Judokas Patricia Sampaio and Barbara Timo were confident on Tuesday they could compete for a medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics, hoping to improve on their ninth-place finish achieved at Tokyo 2020.
The two athletes were talking at Lisbon airport after the presentation of the Portuguese team’s Paris 2024 uniforms and equipment, which they both found comfortable and beautiful.
“Patricia developed, clothes changed along with her. I would really like to compete for medals in Paris. I’ve had a good journey, with some setbacks and injuries, but I managed to have a good campaign at this Olympics. cycle,” Patricia Sampaio said.
Fifth at the recent European Championships in the -78kg division, 24-year-old Patricia Sampaio is currently 12th in the Olympic qualifying rankings and suggests her next goal is to achieve the points that will allow her to enter the top 8 and be sown.
“At the moment I have one more competition and I will try to get some more points and try to get into the top 8 and be one of the top seeds. Regardless of whether it happens or not, I intend to end up in the Medal Dispute in Paris,” he assured.
For athlete Gualdim Pais, mental preparation is also very important to ensure that she will be better than she was three years ago in Beijing, where she arrived at just 21 years old.
“Like the body, the mental aspect is something we train. Having experienced Tokyo when I was so young, I now feel much better prepared for the giant stage that is the Olympics. I am also more prepared for development,” he suggested.
Although judo qualifying is not yet over, Patricia Sampaio has almost qualified, as has Barbara Timo, who is 13th in the qualifying rankings in the -60kg category and says winning a medal is “always possible”.
“Ever since I learned what the Olympic Games are, [uma medalha] This is what I dream about. But it is possible, and I know that I can achieve this goal. I worked hard for this. This will be my second Olympic Games, the first was in Tokyo. It will be a different experience because of the pandemic,” he said.
The Benfica judoka said she was “very happy to be participating in the second Olympic Games and now really feeling the pre-game preparations,” as she did on Tuesday at the presentation of costumes and equipment.
“This atmosphere is special for me. I know I am on track for a good result and a good performance,” he said.
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games will take place from July 26 to August 11.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.