Portugal with three Ibero-American athletics titles, best participation in 20 years
Indeed, it is to go back to 1998, in the edition organized in Lisbon to find the occasion of Expo-98, to better than the set of results now presented in the south of Spain, in which the gold medals of Isaac Nader in the 1,500 meters, of Leandro Ramos, no javelin throw, and Jessica Incude, no shot put.
Portugal closed in fifth in the fifth medal medal, with 17 medals, of the three gold, six silver and eight bronze.
Outstanding dominator, Spain has 14 golds, eight silvers and eight bronzes. The Dominican Republic (5/6/3), Cuba (3/5/2) and Brazil (10/4/8) follow.
In the points classification (from first to eighth), Portugal reaches 182 points, behind Spain (309) and Brazil (261).
Portugal now has, in the history of the competition, 34 gold medals and a total of 153 trips to the podium.
In the closing round, the highlight goes to Isaac Nader, in the 1,500 meters, and Leandro Ramos, in the javelin throw, a day of Jessica Inchude’s success at weight.
Nader’s appeal was executed with great success with ‘triumph of the mid-Algarvean’, which will go on to succeed in succession after a very strong victory with 150 meters to go.
Nader won in 3.43.86 minutes, ahead of Argentine José Zabala (3.44.55) and Andorran Pol Moya (3.44.64).
Leandro Ramos, who a week ago broke the record for the javelin throw in Doha, in the Diamond League ‘meeting’, showed again that he is in great shape and triumphed with 81.37 meters.
Brazilians Pedro Nunes Rodrigues (80.74) and Luiz Dias da Silva (80.41) followed, both with records.
Rui Silva, Olympic medalist in Athens 2004, had a double reason to smile, since after seeing the success of Nader, whose coach he is, he saw his daughter, Patrícia Silva, be third in the 800 meters, with a personal record of 2.04, 23 minutes.
The only Portuguese silver medal of the day went to Lorene Bazolo, in the 200 meters, with 23.67 seconds, behind the Brazilian Vitória Rosa.
Rosalina Santos was sixth, with 24.08.
The men’s 4×400 meter relay (João Coelho, José Carlos Pinto, Ricardo Santos and Mauro Pereira) closed the podium in 3.07.23 and José Carlos Pinto was third in the 800 meters, with a personal record of 1.46.61.
Tsanko Arnaudov threw the weight at 20.43 meters and closed the podium, in a competition won by the Brazilian Darlani Romani, with an excellent 21.70, a new record in the championships.
João Vítor Silva, with 13.95 seconds, was fourth in the 110-meter hurdles final, in which Abdel Larrinaga fell. In the 100 meters hurdles, Olímpia Barbosa finished in sixth, with 13.49.
As for the silver medal in compliance, Evelise Veiga competed in the triple jump, to be fifth with 13.50 meters.
Also in fifth completed Delvis Santos, in the 200 meters, in 21.33.
Irina Rodrigues, who was aiming for the podium, disappointed and was sixth in the discus throw, with 56.73 meters.
Anabela Neto was seventh in the high jump, with 1.75.
Started in 1960 under the name of the Ibero-American Games, this competition that brought together Portuguese and Spanish-speaking countries was short-lived, with only two editions taking place, in Santiago de Chile (1960) and Madrid (1962).
Only twenty years later, the Ibero-American Athletics Association was formalized in Madrid, with the presence of 22 founding countries, to which, in 1996, the new Portuguese-speaking countries and Equatorial Guinea would join.
The inaugural edition took place in 1983 in Barcelona, and Portugal hosted the championships in 1998.