137 women Olympians awarded

This Sunday, the Association of Olympic Athletes of Portugal (AAOP) honored 137 Olympic athletes in Matosinhos, whom the President of the Republic considers “real inspirations”.

“We call them the daredevils of the peloton,” said AAOP President Luis Monteiro in a statement to Lusa just minutes before the ceremony at the new cruise terminal of the Port of Leixoines in Matosinhos.

The ceremony also served to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the AAOP, which, according to the leader, has “more than 400 athletes united in a universe of 800” who have competed in the Olympics, as happened to Luis Monteiro himself, in the modern pentathlon.

There were athletes from different disciplines. The President of the AAOP gave special credit to Joaquim Grainger, who was present despite being 95 years old and competed in eight events at the 1952 Games in Helsinki, Finland, the first games in which Portuguese athletes competed for the first time.

Fernanda Ribeiro, Olympic champion in the 10,000 meters at the 1992 Games in Atlanta, USA, praised the AAOP initiative.

“It’s always nice to be honored,” he told Luce, referring to “the country only remembers athletes when there are Games or major championships.”

Briefly looking back at the current state of Portuguese athletics, Fernanda Ribeiro, the third Portuguese athlete to win an Olympic gold medal after Carlos López and Rosa Mota, believes that “the national team is not doing well at half-distance.”

“Perhaps we were athletes from a more difficult background. Almost all the long-distance runners were from the villages and we had to fight a lot. What I had was with athletics and the likes of me, Carlos Lopez and others. We fought more,” he highlighted.

Fernanda Ribeiro recalled that “at the age of 12” she would travel from Peñafiel, where she was born and lived, to Porto by train, “an hour and a half away”, she trained at CDUP and “if the bus was late, she walked to Sao Bento “, in another part of the city to catch the train there.

“Today this is not the case. This does not mean that athletes do not train, but the suffering is different, ”he estimates.

Luis Monteiro had a special word for Fernanda Ribeiro. “She is the most awarded Portuguese woman, an outstanding personality and a humble woman who immediately takes on challenges,” he said.

“There are 137 Olympic athletes in Portugal, five of whom have won medals, including Fernanda Ribeiro (gold), Rosa Mota (gold), Patricia Mamona (silver), Vanessa Fernandez (silver) and Telma Monteiro (bronze),” recalled Luis Monteiro.

The homage promoted by the AAOP was intended to make them visible and say that “only as a cohesive group can they have negotiating power” to protect their interests.

“Current athletes know they will enter the post-career phase and have a strong association that will treat them and welcome them with open arms, which is very important because they will be able to benefit from protocols with universities and companies. in areas such as employment opportunities and health,” said Luis Monteiro.

Also for the president of the AAOP, “an Olympic athlete should be a natural candidate for the Olympic committee, and Olympic athletes should be in federations, prominent positions, and leadership.”

“What is happening is that the leadership is close with the athletes, but this cannot be. We are not fighting anyone. We want to cooperate, but there is a stigma,” he criticized.

In a short message recorded for this ceremony, the President of the Republic called Olympic athletes “a true source of inspiration for all young people” who want to make a sports career.