Filipe Marques finished fourth in Portugal’s debut Paralympic triathlon.

Portugal’s Filipe Marques finished fourth on Monday, 40 seconds behind bronze, in the PT5 triathlon race at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games, postponed on Sunday due to poor water quality in the Seine River.

In Portugal’s debut Paralympic triathlon, Filipe Marques, who won the diploma, finished with a total time of 59.59 minutes, 40 seconds behind Germany’s Martin Schulz (59.19), who won the bronze medal.

North American Chris Hammer, the only one to finish under 59 minutes (58.44), became the Paralympic champion, while Brazil’s Ronan Cordeiro (59.01) took silver.

Filipe Marques, who has mobility issues in one leg, was pleased with the classification, which guaranteed Portugal an eighth place, but admitted he went through the race “with his eyes on the medals”.

“My goal was to be in the top five, but of course I had my eye on the medals, I was 40 seconds behind, I’ve never been that close. I’ll have to settle for fourth place, but obviously I’d really like to get third,” he suggested at the end of the race, which took place near the Alexandre III bridge in Paris.

Despite being the fastest in the 750m, where he clocked 10.37 minutes, the Portuguese triathlete admitted he hoped to gain more time in that part of the race.

“I tried to change the situation because this is my strongest segment, but I couldn’t gain the time I wanted. I wanted to start the bike with a big advantage, it was impossible. The chain didn’t help at all here,” the Sporting athlete explained.

After the 20km race, in which he recorded a time of 42.11 minutes and “dropped” to fifth place, Felipe Marquez ended his participation with the 5km track and field: “Running is my weakest segment, I started running fifth, I managed to reach fourth, I always had third place in mind, but I couldn’t do it.”

With a Paralympic diploma from Paris 2024, Felipe Marquez already has his sights set on Los Angeles 2028, but is mindful that the season is not over yet, suggesting he can still “do a lot of good things.”

“I have the European Championships in three weeks and the World Championships in a month and a half. I can still do a lot of good things this season and only after that I start thinking about the next goals, which, how does that happen? Obviously they pass through Los Angeles in 2028,” he said.

The 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris will mark Portugal’s debut in triathlon and powerlifting.

At Paris 2024, the Portuguese delegation, made up of 27 athletes, will continue to compete with three medals – two gold and one bronze – and eight diplomas.