Another 37 athletes made their mark on Portugal’s Olympic history

Portugal made Olympic history this Sunday with 838 athletes after Susana Santos became the last of the 37 debutants to compete at the 2024 Games in Paris.

Before the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, Portugal was represented by 801 athletes at the most important sporting event in the world.

With several athletes competing in different editions and even different forms, the number of participants from Portugal in Paris reached 1,264.

There were 73 Portuguese athletes in 15 sports in the French capital, fewer than in the last two editions, both with 92, “inflated” by the football (2016) and handball (2020) teams, but for the first time there were more women than men (37 versus 36).

Among the 37 debutants of the Portuguese national team (Jessica Inchude had already played for Guinea-Bissau, but made her debut in Portuguese colours), Yuri Leitão, an outstanding figure in the Portuguese mission, stands out.

The cyclist from Viana do Castelo became the first Portuguese to win two medals in the same event when he shone on the track, taking gold in the Madison with Rui Oliveira, the first outside of athletics, and silver in the omnium.

Also noteworthy are three triathlon newcomers: Vasco Vilas (fifth) and Ricardo Baptista (sixth), who earned diplomas in the individual race and also took fifth place in the mixed relay, along with repeaters Melanie Santos and Maria Tomé, who also became their first live Olympic experience.

Gabriel Albuquerque, fifth in the springboard, Maria Ines Barros, eighth in the Olympic pit, and Jessica Inchude, eighth in the shot put, were the other debutants who received a diploma reserved for the top eight.

In Portugal’s best ever medal performance, Pedro Pichardo repeated his podium finish in the triple jump but fell a notch to take silver, while judoka Patricia Sampaio took bronze in the 79kg weight class.

In terms of participation, Atlanta’s 107 athletes at the 1996 Centennial Games are still the most ever for a single event, with Portugal also surpassing the 100 mark (101) in 1992 in Barcelona, ​​with teams from football (18) and roller hockey (10) respectively.

The Olympic Games began in 1896 in Athens, but Portugal failed to make it to the first four editions, debuting only at the fifth, in 1912, in Stockholm, Sweden, with the tragic death of marathon runner Francisco Lazaro, one of six Portuguese athletes present.

In 1920, Portugal hosted 14 athletes who competed in fencing and shooting, and in 1924 in Paris, 29 athletes from eight disciplines, and the Portuguese delegation won its first medal, a bronze, in the team obstacle course with riders José Mouzinho de Albuquerque, Anibal Borges de Almeida and Hélder de Souza Martins.

In the next edition, in 1928, Portugal again broke its record: 32 athletes, including a football team, were present in Amsterdam. However, it was fencing that won the bronze medal, thanks to the swords team.

Having brought only six athletes to Los Angeles in 1932, Portugal was also not represented by many in Berlin, but 19 athletes were enough for a third bronze, again in equestrian and in the collective obstacle course, and almost fifty (46) went to London 1948: two “metals”, silver for the “Swallow” of sailors Duarte Bello and Fernando Bello and a new bronze in equestrian.

Helsinki 1952, which brought another bronze in sailing, marked the first truly ‘strong’ delegation with 71 athletes, including the first three women to represent national colours, in 10 disciplines.

Four years later, in ‘faraway’ Melbourne, Portugal fielded just 12 athletes, down from 65 in Rome 1960, a record 12 sports, with silver in sailing, before the number of qualifying athletes dropped.

Twenty-one in Tokyo (1964), 20 in Mexico City (1968), 29 in Munich (1972), 19 in Montreal (1976) and 11, despite the North American boycott, in Moscow (1980), with small results in Canada, with two silver medals – Carlos Lopez in the 10,000 meters and Armando Marquez in the Olympic pit (shooting).

In 1984, during a period marked by the boycott of eastern countries, in response to the boycott promoted by the United States four years earlier, Portugal had 38 athletes and finally won its first Olympic marathon title in Carlos Lopes, along with two other bronze medals, one of them from Rosa Mota, the first Portuguese woman to win a medal.

The Portuguese field shot up to 66 in 13 events in Seoul, South Korea, where they won their second gold and their first in the women’s race, again thanks to marathon winner Rosa Mota.

In Barcelona (1992) and Atlanta (1996) there was a real Portuguese “pilgrimage”: 101 athletes in Catalonia did not give decent results, and 107 in the United States, where Fernanda Ribeiro won the third Portuguese gold in the 10,000 meters, and sailing returned to the podium 36 years later.

In the last four tournaments the representation has decreased, but Portugal has not missed out on medals again – the 1992 championship was the last in the “white” tournaments – with two bronze medals in Sydney (2000), with 62 athletes, two silver and one bronze in Athens (2004).

In Beijing (2008), Nelson Evora (triple jump) brought Portugal its fourth gold, leaving 77 athletes heading to China and one less to London (2012), where the Portuguese delegation was saved by silver from canoeists Emanuel Silva and Fernando Pimenta (K2 1000m).

At Rio 2016, the delegation of 92 athletes, including 18 football players, once again managed to win just one medal, bronze, for judoka Thelma Monteiro (-57 kg), one of 30 women present.

Tokyo 2020 made Olympic history for Portugal with four medals, an unprecedented achievement at the time: gold from one of the newcomers, Pedro Pichardo, in the triple jump, which “brought” silver to Patricia Mamone, and two bronzes from judoka Jorge Fonseca and canoeist Fernando Pimenta.