The Portuguese Athletics Federation (FPA) assured this Friday that the travel problems of a third of the team that will take part in the 2023 World Cup in Budapest have been resolved, the national technical director said.
“At the start, all problems are solved. It was an unprecedented and unexpected situation. Athletes must go first. For example, me, most of the officials and only the athlete Liliana Tsa, who does not compete in the first days. , this is the one who will stay to arrive tomorrow [no sábado]”, José Santos explained in statements to the Lusa news agency.
A group of 29 members of the Portuguese team that will take part in the 19th World Championships in Athletics were delayed Thursday at Frankfurt Airport in Germany due to the cancellation of a flight to the Hungarian capital, causing a travel delay. from , at least 12 athletes.
“I say apparently because in this situation there was chaos that we did not expect. The airline (Lufthansa) did not help, even when it comes to athletes. This has never happened to me, ”the coach admitted.
The first Portuguese to compete in Budapest in 2023 on the streets of the Hungarian capital will be the walker Joao Vieira, who completed the 20 km walk on Saturday from 8:50 local time (7:50 in Lisbon), who is in the group took place in Frankfurt.
Back on the first day of the competition will be Francisco Belo and Tsanko Arnaudov in the shot put qualification, whose final is still contested in the Saturday evening session, Marta Pen, Salome Afonso and Isaac Nader in the qualification. the 1500m qualifying heats, Thiago Luis Pereira in the trio and the 4x400m mixed relay which will feature four of the six athletes (Joao Coelho, Omar Elhatib, Ricardo Santos, Catia Azevedo, Karina Vanessa and Fatumata Diallo).
According to José Santos, these athletes will arrive this Friday in the Hungarian capital after they have been divided into groups and various solutions have been found, between direct flights from Frankfurt and connections with intermediate stops in Vienna and Amsterdam.
The cancellation of a flight between Frankfurt and Budapest came after the Portuguese Athletics Federation (FPA) confirmed the absence of Pedro Pablo Pichardo, Olympic, World and European triple jump champion, from the competition.
Following Pichardo’s departure, confirmed on Thursday, with lower back pain keeping him out of most of the outdoor season, Portugal was left without two Olympic medalists after Patricia Mamona was also ruled out with injury. with 28 athletes in 21 competitions. at the 19th World Championships in Athletics, which he won with a record of 23 medals, seven golds, seven silvers and nine bronzes.