There are 16 fewer qualified athletes at the Paris 2024 Olympics than at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, who qualify in 11 sports.

Portugal has 40 athletes with qualifying quotas 100 days before the Paris 2024 Olympics, 16 fewer than those who qualified at the same time for Tokyo 2020, with the big difference being the presence of handball.

Portugal’s two previous Olympics featured collective teams: football at Rio 2016 and handball at Tokyo 2020, which took place in 2021 due to Covid-19.

Having been the first team from the Portuguese pavilion to qualify for the Games (roller hockey was held in Barcelona in 1992 as an exhibition form), the handball team was eliminated from the pre-Olympic tournament, resulting in a 14-athlete “break” from the Portuguese tournament. mission to Paris2024.

With 100 days to go until Wednesday’s Games, Portugal has qualified in 11 sports, one less than in the same period before Tokyo 2020, with handball and rowing excluded and triathlon guaranteed.

Portugal has 40 athletes with quotas for Paris 2024, which runs from July 26 to August 11, with the biggest field as usual being athletics, with eight athletes with minimum qualifications, although final qualifications will be confirmed only on June 30, vacancies will be distributed by brand and rating.

Irina Rodriguez (discus), Pedro Buaro (pole vault), Samuel Barata and Susana Godinho (marathon), Oriol Dongmo (shot put), seriously injured at the end of 2023, Isaac Nader (1500 meters), João Coelho (400 meters) and Ana Cabesinha (20 kilometers of walking) are athletes with minimums.

Compared to 2021, Portuguese athletics has two fewer qualifications, highlighted by the absence of Pedro Pablo Pichardo, the Olympic triple jump champion who has not yet competed this season, and Patricia Mamona, a silver medalist in the same discipline and recovering from injuries.

In canoeing, which still has one more qualifying point, there are four fewer qualifications than in Tokyo: Fernando Pimenta, who won bronze in the K1 1000m in 2021, led the delegation alongside K2 500 world champions João Ribeiro, Messias Baptista and Teresa Portela. , for 1,500 CZK.

Swimming is the second most popular sport with five swimmers, the same as 100 days before Tokyo 2020: Diogo Ribeiro, world champion in the 50 and 100m butterfly, has minimums in the 50m and 100m freestyle, as well in the 100m butterfly, Joao Costa in the 100m backstroke, Camila Rebelo in the 200m backstroke, Miguel Nascimento in the 50m freestyle and Angelique Andre in open water.

The triathlon will feature historic participation, with qualifying for the mixed relay guaranteeing Portugal’s largest ever representation, with two women taking part in the race for the first time, with repeaters Melanie Santos and Maria Thome joining Vasco Vilas and Ricardo Batista.

In cycling, when qualifying on the track comes to an end, Portugal runs the same three qualifying stages: two men on the road (they compete in long distance and time races) and a return to the women’s race with a female cyclist, something that hasn’t happened since Atlanta 1996 .

Filipa Martins will compete in her third Olympics in a row in artistic gymnastics, while Gabriel Albuquerque will be selected to compete in the men’s individual trampoline competition after earning a quota spot at the world championships alongside Pedro Ferreira.

At Teaupo’o Beach in Tahiti, Teresa Bonvalot and Yolanda Hopkins, fifth in Tokyo 2020, will represent Portugal in surfing, while Maria Ines Barros will become the first Portuguese woman to compete in the Olympic shotgun pit test, after how to become European champion. .

In equestrianism, Portugal retained its four places, three of them in dressage, thanks to the team competition, while Duarte Cibra’s position in the world hierarchy ensured a presence in show jumping.

In table tennis, only the men’s team – Marcos Freitas, Thiago Apolonia, João Gerald, Diogo Carvalho and João Monteiro – in the World Team Championship is currently guaranteed a place – which also opens up the presence of two table tennis players in the individual tournament, which will leave those who selected for collective test.

In sailing, Diogo Costa and Carolina Joao (470) and Eduardo Marques (ILCA 7) are already guaranteed to participate in the Marseille regattas, while the case of Vasile Caracilou is yet to be determined.

The Greek, sailing for Portugal under a special World Sailing license, also won a place in ILCA 6, but the Greek Olympic Committee had already said it would not allow a Portuguese sailor to participate, so the quota was transferred to another nation.