Nelson Oliveira bids emotional farewell to Olympics

Nelson Oliveira bid an emotional farewell to the Olympic Games on Saturday, suggesting that his fourth participation will likely be his last as a cyclist and that he will leave Paris 2024 with his head held high, having given it his all.

“The first Olympic Games, mine and Rui’s [Costa]it was in London, and here we finished in Paris, probably our last Olympic Games. But I think we left with our heads held high. Unfortunately, everything did not go as we expected, that’s true. We hoped to give the Portuguese another joy, but unfortunately it did not work out,” the first Portuguese “diplomat” in the French capital began his speech.

Nelson Oliveira, who finished seventh in the time trial a week ago, finished 33rd in the long-distance race today, 03.42 minutes behind the winner, Belgian Remco Evenepoel.

“We did everything we could and tried everything to get out of here well, and I think we succeeded. […] The idea was to try to help Rui as much as possible, unfortunately he had a small puncture in the final part, he managed to finish, but that’s cycling, sometimes things don’t go the way we want,” he lamented.

The Portuguese cycling Olympic record holder – he has four – admitted that “things could have gone better today”, but “the feeling was not the best”.

“But I know I left everything on the road, I couldn’t have done better,” he assured, suggesting his goal had always been to win the time trial diploma and also to try to help Costa, who was 46th today, “as much as possible.”

After congratulating Evenepoel, who he said was already a “legend”, Oliveira thanked the Portuguese people for the support they have given to the Portuguese road cycling duo at these Olympic Games.

“The emotions are strong here, especially in Paris. The crowd was incredible and the atmosphere was brutal. All that remains is to go home,” where he has not been for six weeks, he added.

An excited Nelson said his “bleary” eyes were due to fatigue, as well as emotion and a sense of accomplishment.

“These are my last Olympic Games and I especially loved the atmosphere in Paris. The crowd was incredible, the emotions I felt at this last stage were very strong, as these were probably my last Olympic Games,” he admitted.

At 35, the cyclist from Vilarinho do Bairro (Anadia) admitted that he does not know if this is the end of his Olympic story, but he is convinced that Paris 2024 will be his farewell as a cyclist.

“The future will show, and we will continue to work,” he concluded.