Ricardo Batista, Melanie Santos, Vasco Vilaça and Maria Tomé were proud of their “incredible race” in the Paris 2024 mixed triathlon relay on Monday, as well as their fifth place in Portugal’s Olympic debut in the race.
“I think we were nervous from the beginning to the end, but I think we had an incredible race. We were all on top,” Melanie Santos said, recalling that Portugal “were always in touch with the medals.”
Despite finishing fifth, the most experienced of the four triathletes who completed the second leg of the relay said they had to “be realistic, it was a great race” in which everyone did “very well”, and that “an Olympic diploma on your debut is incredible”.
“Both the triathlete and Portugal should be very proud, as I think each of us is proud of our team’s performance,” he admitted.
Ricardo Batista opened the competition for Portugal and was immediately given a 10-second penalty for a false start, which he managed to “handle in the best possible way”, with Portugal always managing to be “close to the top places of the competition”.
“Without a doubt, it was a very good test for all the elements of the relay, and for Portugal’s debut in this competition, I don’t think we could have wished for a better result. We all did very well and left here very happy,” he said.
Ricardo Batista, who finished sixth in the individual standings, insists that everyone is “quite happy with the diploma”, although he admits that with Portugal close to the podium places, “I already believed in a medal”.
The third part of the relay was supervised by Vasco Vilasa, who said it was “very beautiful” that triathlon was leaving Paris with three diplomas, especially since all members of the team achieved this after fifth place in the individual race, in which Ricardo Batista was sixth.
“This is something that few other sports can do and it shows the potential that triathlon has not only at these Games now but for the future,” Vilasa said, admitting that it was a dream “always until the end.”
Of the race, the 24-year-old triathlete says he gave “everything I had after running with Melanie and Ricardo, who had done a lot of running,” only regretting “not leaving a little more space for Maria.” [Tomé] “go out on the street with an American athlete” so they can cherish their medal dream “to the end.”
Maria Tome finished fifth for Portugal, although she admits that “going through the last stage is always a big responsibility.”
“But I think in the end it was the best we could do and I’m very happy, I hope they are too and I think they are too and it was wonderful,” he said.
After taking third place from Vasco Vilaza, Maria Tome tried to stay close to North American Taylor Knibb, who has a “very strong” cycling course, “to keep a place near the podium.”
“It didn’t happen but we tried to do the other two segments as well as we could and I think fifth was already very good and we are very happy,” said the 23-year-old, who rode the entire moto alone but ultimately managed to “do a solid race and finish fifth on the debut”.
Ricardo Batista, Melanie Santos, Vasco Vilaza and Maria Thome completed the race in 1:27.08, 1.29 minutes behind Germany, who won the race in 1:25.39, behind the United States (silver) and Great Britain (bronze), both within two.
With eyes in Los Angeles
The fifth place won in the mixed relay at Paris 2024 gives Portuguese triathletes hope of participating in the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in four years.
With a very young group of Ricardo Batista, 23, Vasco Vilaça, 24, Maria Tomé, 23, and Melanie Santos, 29, the only one competing in the Olympics for the second time, Portugal has achieved excellent results this year. On Monday, they finished fifth in their debut in the mixed relay, a race in which the Portuguese even dreamed of medals.
“But these are dreams, and the dreams will continue, we will not stop dreaming. I am absolutely sure that in Los Angeles, whether it is me or another team, Portuguese triathlon will continue to dream,” assured Vasco Vilasa.
Finisterre, who finished fifth in the individual standings, insisted that “there was not a single detail” that would have deprived Portugal of medals and that more work was simply needed.
“It’s not about the details, it’s about the work that will take four years to improve. I would say that at the end of the day, a detail is something that’s maybe 0.01 seconds, and the time difference between us is the work time. It’s time to work on everything: swimming, cycling, running, to improve and hopefully come to Los Angeles in even better conditions,” he said.
Ricardo Batista, sixth in the standings, reminded that this is a very young team and that they still have work to do so that in four years’ time in Los Angeles they can try to do even better than they did in the French capital.
“I think we are all athletes who just came up – well, almost all of us – from the junior level, Melanie too, she is still young. So, I think over these four years, everything points to us improving our form, and that is why we will also be fighting for the top spots in Los Angeles,” he said.
Maria Tomé expressed hope that this performance could attract more young people to a sport that has grown in Portugal thanks in large part to Vanessa Fernandes, whom Vasco Vilaça considered the great idol of the team, arguing that without the silver medal in Beijing 2008, “there was no courier.”
“I saw this after the test [individual]when I was at home, that she herself left a few words of gratitude and was also in tears. I think this also affects us a lot, and it is very beautiful because she is our idol, isn’t it? We do not expect her to be touched by what we have done and what we are doing, and it is very nice to have this support on her side again,” Vilasa said.
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.