Another Medal for Portugal: Iuri Leitão wins silver
Leitão made history with Portugal’s first medal in track cycling.
26-year-old Iúri Leitão, the reigning track cycling world champion, has won the silver medal the Paris2024 Olympic Games.
The Viana do Castelo native also won Portugal's first medal on the track and the second in the history of Portuguese cycling at the Olympic Games, after Sérgio Paulinho was second in the long-distance race in Athens 2004.
Portugal’s tally
It is Portugal’s second medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
The disappointing result speaks not of the athletes, who are true heroes for reaching such advanced stages in their respective sports, often with very little support and poor conditions, but of successive neglect of most sports beyond football (soccer).
In an article published this week in Expresso, the Chairman of the Bernardo da Costa Group and President of the General Council of Minho Business Association, Ricardo Costa, painted a bleak picture of sports in this country: “We lack a sporting culture in Portugal (schools, families and the population in general) and we do not believe in the importance of sport. There is a lack of encouragement for sport in schools, or if there is sport, there is a lack of understanding by the athletes.”
He added: “We are talking about young people who arrive home very late, have to balance two occupations and do not have the possibility of choosing just sport.”
“Our athletes often do not have the necessary infrastructure and support to succeed. Travel on low-cost airlines, with inappropriate schedules, as well as overnight stays in airports are a sad reality for many. Still, the country expects them to win Olympic medals, without providing the minimum conditions for doing so.”
While such opinions warrant an intense debate in the Portuguese society, it is also worth remembering that there are still 13 national athletes in four sports: athletics, breakdancing, canoeing and cycling.
So, who’s still in the Games?
On Friday, Pedro Pichardo, who holds the current Olympic and European titles, will compete in the triple jump final at 7pm. On Saturday it is Samuel Barata's turn, in the marathon, and Salomé Afonso, in the 1500 meters. On the last day of the race, it is Susana Godinho's turn in the marathon.
On Friday is the opening day of women's breakdancing and Portuguese Vanessa Marina will compete in qualifiers starting at 3pm.
In canoeing, João Ribeiro and Messias Baptista will have their semi-final at 10:10 am, with the final taking place at 12:20 pm. The following day it is Teresa Portela's turn, in the K1 500 meters, and Fernando Pimenta, in the K1 1000 meters, the final of which takes place at 12:10 pm.
In cycling, Iuri Leitão will return to the track, for the madison race, with Rui Oliveira. On the last day, Maria Martins will compete in the omnium race and she will be the last Portuguese to compete in the Paris Olympic Games.