“I always want to be the best”: Thiago Pereira’s path to winning an international medal in the triple jump

This Saturday, Thiago Pereira took advantage of the absence of champion Pedro Pichardo to reach the high point of his career, winning a bronze medal in the triple jump at the World Athletics Championships in Glasgow, Scotland.

At 30, the reigning five-time national champion, who calls himself the “best athlete” of his generation, has shown the world that his enormous ambitions have a strong quality foundation despite his career being overshadowed by the Olympic champion. specialty: 17, 08 at the last rehearsal he was brought out of international “anonymity” this Saturday.

Thiago has already proven himself in 2023, entering the medal race at the European indoor track with a fourth-place finish of 16.51m, just six centimeters from the bronze medal he won this Saturday in Glasgow.

Tiago’s adventures in athletics began at the age of 10 at the Escola Básica Mestre Domingos Saraiva school in Algueirão, Mem Martins, on the outskirts of Lisbon. His fate took a more serious turn when he went to represent Benfica in 2011. .

Among his strong performances in the high jump, long jump and triple jump, he stood out in 2012 when he became the national junior champion in both the high jump and triple jump.

He would also become a two-time U23 champion in the indoor high jump, a three-time champion in the triple jump at the same level on the indoor track and a two-time champion in the outdoors: in 2015 he became the best in Portugal in the high jump in room.

In 2018, he left Benfica to join Sporting to re-energize his career after an injury affected his play, and the following year he became overall national champion in the outdoor triple jump, his first Penta title. as well as in the indoor high jump, his latest result in this specialty.

The athlete has undergone a significant transformation thanks to João Gans, who also coached Olympic champion Nelson Évora and was a three-time Portuguese indoor triple jump champion between 2022 and 2024.

At international level, he represented Portugal at the 2015 European Team Championships at the Ibero-America Championships the following year, and also competed twice at the European Under-23 Championships.

He achieved his Olympic dream at Tokyo 2020 when he finished 16th out of 31 competitors with a score of 16.71: Pedro Pichardo took gold with 17.98, China’s Zhu Yaming silver with 17.57 and Fabrice Zhangguo of Burkina Faso – bronze from 17.47.

“Ever since I was young, I always wanted to be the best. I can go and play against Cristiano. [Ronaldo] or Messi, but I want to be the best, although I know that they have phenomenal quality. It could be a fight against Pedro Pichardo or Andy Diaz (…), my goal is to become European champion,” Thiago Pereira once said, just in time to realize a new dream.