The Portuguese Triathlon Federation has “very high hopes” for Paris 2024.

The president of the Portuguese Triathlon Federation (FTP), Sérgio Dias, said this Friday that Portuguese expectations for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games are “quite high” and that they do not rule out winning medals at the competition.

“We have very high hopes, even considering the quality of the athletes we have. Therefore, we are aiming for prominent places and, of course, we are not ruling out a medal scenario,” the director said.

The person in charge, who spoke to the Lusa agency during the selection phase of the triathlon (junior and elite) in Avis, Portalegre district, began by explaining that “in fact” Portugal has already won two places in the men’s sector. but warns that the situation in the women’s sector is now “less clear”.

However, the FTP president believes that the team could achieve both places (women’s), with one of the athletes being “closer” to achieving this goal.

“We still have ambitions, we still have some hope of getting the necessary results to qualify for the relay,” he said.

Sergio Diaz stressed that the sport has “evolved” and for most countries a “big bet” has been made on the next Olympic Games in the mixed relay.

“Today this is the goal of the vast majority of countries, including the international federation. [World Triathlon] which puts relay qualification above individual qualification and this gives it even more importance. Triathlon is also a pioneer in this field as both genders compete together for the same result and as a team, which is an added value for triathlon,” he added.

Speaking to Lusa, FTP technical director José Estranjeiro explained that the 41-athlete internship at Avis serves to create “an identity of selection, a spirit of group selection and belonging,” which also helps the athletes get to know each other better. especially in the junior and elite categories.

“The goal of the Games is for two men and two women to take part. This will be something unprecedented for Portugal and it will be the largest national participation not only of women, but also of men. We’ve already had three men, but in terms of numbers overall this will be our biggest participation yet,” he said.

The former triathlete also warns that the qualification of the four athletes who will beat the three present at Tokyo 2020, Rio 2016 and Beijing 2008 could be done through individual or collective qualifications, which culminate in a ranking in March, but there is a debriefing test. ‘ in May.

The FTP currently has 3,560 federated athletes and 120 clubs, a significant increase from the 906 athletes and 50 clubs recorded the year Vanessa Fernandez won Olympic silver in Beijing 2008.