Filipa Martins to review ‘later’ Los Angeles2028

Philippa Martins, the first Portuguese gymnast to compete in the all-around final at the 2024 Paris Olympics, on Tuesday postponed a decision on whether she will compete in the new cycle until Los Angeles 2028.

“Now it’s time to enjoy the moment with family and friends and thank everyone who helped us get here. Not only the therapists, doctors, coaches, the club, but also all the Portuguese people, because we felt their affection there. Take your vacation, get well. ” I want to heal my body completely, finish my master’s degree, and then think about what to do,” he said upon returning to Porto.

The 28-year-old Porto native, a Master’s student in Sports Training at the University of Porto’s Faculty of Sports, made history by finishing 20th in the rhythmic gymnastics all-around final, which saw North American Simone Biles emerge as champion for the second time.

“The final was really about enjoying it to the fullest and making the most of every moment. It was a privilege to re-enter the pavilion, now full of people, with a unique and exciting atmosphere,” he recalled, his eyes still sparkling.

The Acro Clube da Maia gymnast finished the competition with 51,232 points thanks to 12,700 on balance beam, 12,466 on floor, 12,500 on vault and 13,566 on uneven bars.

Filipa Martins said her preparations were done “in the best possible way so that there wouldn’t be too many doubts even if things didn’t go very well,” which they didn’t.

She was touched by the crowd of about 100 people waiting for her at Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport, including family members, members of her club and other gymnasts, as well as anonymous citizens who recognized her.

“It’s nice that all these people welcome us here with such pride for the work we have done every day for many years. We came with a sense of accomplishment, of goals achieved,” he congratulated.

Filipa Martins recalled the “tough weeks” that led to the greatest success in the history of Portuguese artistic gymnastics, but “in the end it all paid off” with her performance.

“There we didn’t have much of an idea of ​​the magnitude of what we had done and the impact we had in Portugal, but people talked to me and said I was all over the place. It was a very good thing, as was the reward for all the recognition and affection people had,” he concluded.

At Tokyo 2020, Filipa Martins was 43rd in the all-around, 69th on beam, 46th on floor and 17th on asymmetrical parallels, while in her Olympic debut at Rio 2016, she was 37th in the all-around, 32nd on beam, 43rd on floor and 54th on asymmetrical parallels

Filipa Martins was also the first and only Portuguese woman to reach the World Parallel Apparatus Final (eighth place) in Kitakyushu in 2021, when she also competed in the All-Around Final for the first time (seventh place), a feat she repeated in 2023 in Antwerp (21st place).