Several sports figures bid farewell to Jose Manuel Constantino

Several current and former Olympic athletes, as well as the President of the Republic, said goodbye to José Manuel Constantino this Wednesday at the headquarters of the Portuguese Olympic Committee (COP), from where the funeral procession of the organization’s president left for Gondomar.

There were many personalities from the world of sport and beyond who were present at the headquarters of the CS in Lisbon, where a mass was held before the funeral procession to the north of the country, where the funeral of José Manuel Constantino will take place, in Igreja Matriz de São Cosme, at 15:00, then we head to the Gondomar cemetery.

Judoka Telma Monteiro, who competed in five Olympic Games (two under the auspices of Constantino) and won bronze in Rio 2016, and sailors Jorge Lima, who competed in Beijing 2008, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, and João Rodrigues, the Portuguese record holder. The Olympic participants (seven people) are pallbearers.

Also present were Pedro Pablo Pichardo, Olympic triple jump champion at Tokyo 2020 and recent silver winner at Paris 2024, judokas Patricia Sampaio, who won bronze in the French capital, and Rochelle Nunes, athletes Jessica Inchude and Francisco Belo, swimmer Miguel Nascimento, cyclist Maria Martins and Rui Silva, bronze medalist in the 1500m at Athens 2004.

Also present at the ceremony were former judoka Nuno Delgado, triathlete João Silva, middle-distance runner Marta Pen, tennis player Thiago Apolonia and Susana Costa, who recently retired from triple jump.

The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, was again present at the COP, as he had been the day before, at the funeral, being one of the speakers at the ceremony, as were the two sons of José Manuel Constantino.

José Manuel Constantino, who had led the Portuguese Olympic Committee since March 26, 2013, died on Sunday at the age of 74 after a long illness.

He led the Olympic organisation in Portugal’s two best missions at the Games, winning four medals at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 after his debut at Rio 2016.

He previously headed the Portuguese Sports Institute and the Portuguese Sports Confederation.

Author of books and articles published on sports, he was considered one of the greatest thinkers of this phenomenon in Portugal, which was recognized by the title of Honorary Doctorate from the University of Porto in 2016 and the University of Lisbon in 2023.

In the French capital, Portugal won gold in the Madison thanks to Rui Oliveira and Yuri Leitan, who also won silver in the omnium, both in track cycling, Pichardot’s silver in the triple jump and Patricia Sampaio’s bronze in judo.