Joao Vieira made World Championship history in athletics

João Vieira will make World Championship history this Saturday with his 13th presence in 19 editions, equaling in Budapest 2023 reigning record holder and Spanish walker Jesús Bragado in the 20km race.

The veteran athlete from Rio Maior, 47, is the first of 28 Portuguese called up to the World Championships to compete starting at 08:50 local time (07:50 in Lisbon) on a circuit through the streets. from the Hungarian capital with departure and arrival at Praça dos Herois.

Without Pedro Pablo Pichardo, who was unable to defend his triple jump world title he won in Oregon in 2022 due to lower back pain that kept him out of the outdoors for most of the season, the national representation in this specialty was reduced to Thiago Luis Pereira. which posted a modest best mark of the year of 16.51 meters, 18th among the 19 Group B competitors who qualified for the final – guaranteed for jumps above 17.15.

Previously, at the Portuguese debut of the new National Athletics Center in Budapest, Francisco Belo and national record holder Tsanko Arnaudov will compete in the shot put competition starting at 10:30 (09:30), with 21.40 meters. as a qualifying score for the final to be held this Saturday afternoon at 20:35 (19:35).

Belo, who has 20.64 as the best result of the year and 21.28 ever, competes in Group A along with American Ryan Krauser, who has already tripled the world record set by 23.56 this year, while Arnaudov is in Group B, with 21.56 as its national high and 20.17 as the benchmark in 2023.

This is followed by the 4x400m relay with Ricardo dos Santos, Catia Azevedo, Omar Elhatib and Fatumata Diallo who, in this unprecedented presence, is looking for a place in Saturday’s final, as well as in the 1500m qualifying heats of Marta Pen and Salome Afonso.

At the same distance, but already in the afternoon, Isaac Nader, who has already managed to qualify for Paris 2024, will compete in qualifying, with an eye to reaching the semi-finals on Saturday, and the final scheduled for Wednesday. . . .

– Saturday, August 19:

TIME Venue (Lisbon) DISCIPLINE ATHLETE(S)

08:50 (07:50) 20 kilometers walk (M) Joao Vieira

10:30 (09:30) Shot put (M) – Francisco Belo and Tsanko Arnaudov, qualification

11:05 (10:05) 4x400m Mixed Relay – Elimination Ricardo Santos, Katia Azevedo, Omar Elhatib and Fatumata Diallo

13:26 (12:26) 1500 meters (F) – Preliminaries Salome Afonso

13:48 (12:48) 1500 meters (F) – Martha Pen heats

19:02 (18:02) 1500m (M) Preliminaries Isaac Nader

19:37 (18:37) Triple jump (M) – Thiago Pereira, qualification

20:37 (19:37) Shot put (M) – final Francisco Belo and Tsanko Arnaudov (a)

21:49 (20:49) 4x400m mixed relay – final Joao Coelho, Omar Elhatib, Ricardo dos Santos, Catia Azevedo, Karina Vanessa and Fatumata Diallo (a)