Portugal’s first Olympic champion
Luís da Camões immortalized himself in verses as achievements of Portugal, which made June 10 his day. A tribute to the illustrious poet who died in these data, in 1580.
More than four centuries later, a Portuguese woman wrote along 42,195m a story that also stayed forever. She was the first woman in the country to win an Olympic medal, with the 1984 Los Angeles Games bronze marathon.
The golden chapter of her Olympic pages took place in the same event, in Seoul 1988. Like her pioneering spirit in California, she was also the first Portuguese woman to reach the top of the podium.
By 1992, of the 20 marathons he had run, he had won 14.
The continuation of the series with Portuguese athletes won medals in games, or the second model is one that will never be forgotten: Rosa Mota.
Rosa Mota leads the 1986 European Athletics Championships marathon at the Neckarstadion in Stuttgart, West Germany. Mota won the gold medal.
Photo: Bob Martin/Allsport
The beginning
Born in the city of Porto, she competed in the first school competition in 1972, in order to accompany her friends. It was a regional cross-country race (cross country). In the first participation, the victory. After that, district tournaments, nationals and back-to-back triumphs. The doors of athletics were opened for her.
In the early 1980s, when he was just over 20 years old, asthma almost reached Mota from the sport. He had to rethink his career. It was at that time that José Pedrosadoctor who became his coach and also made him rethink what distances to focus on.
Six-time champion in Brazil
Dedicated to great courses, in 1981 she went to South America to be part of the traditional São Silvestre race, held since the 20s of the last century, on the streets of São Paulo – that year the trajectory had 12.64 km.
“My first big victory was São Silvestre, from São Paulo (Brazil)”, he said to young people from the project ‘Sportsmen at the Palace of Belém’. She won on six consecutive occasions, from 1981 to 1986. A record of titles in the women’s event, still not surpassed. “I miss you a lot, these are moments that I didn’t feel my heart or for the victories, but for the affection I received”, she added.
Kindness.
The “Menina da Foz”, as she is known, always made it clear that she ran to win, but always with love for the sport and running. To the program ‘Carlos Cruz Wednesday’ of RTP (Rádio e Televisão de Portugal, 1992, he declared: “It takes a taste for what you do, effort and effort… I ran to win, but not to record.”
the conquest of the world
Encouraged by coach Proença, Mota was entered in the women’s marathon of the European Athletics Championships, held in Athens, Greece, in 1982. The competition had its arrival at the ‘Panathinaiko’ stadium, scene of the first Olympic Games, in 1896. For the first time the women’s marathon was officially disputed, in a continental tournament.
Symbolic, no doubt. It was an omen.
Mota participate and be part of this historic moment for women, because the race was not even allowed in Portuguese territory. She ran and more than that, she won.
“In 1982, when I won the marathon in the European championships, I discovered my ideal race… I have stamina, but I don’t have much speed. The greater the distance, the more comfortable I felt”, Mota told RTP, in a 1992 interview. , when asked what important moment we wanted to make racing or their livelihood.
The first Olympic medal came two years later, with bronze in the women’s marathon in Los Angeles 1984. The first medal won by a Portuguese woman in the Games. In the same interview, she talked about the feat: “Finishing a race at the Olympics is good… having a medal is great!”
The harbinger of years earlier was even more evident in Seoul 1988. Mota won a marathon to become the “Golden Rose”. From kilometer 38 onwards, he saw his coach nearby, who told him it was time to pick up the pace and start for the win.
It paved the way for the Olympics who won the most conquests for the Portuguese in the following Games.
About the marathon in Seoul, he commented to RTP after the award ceremony: “I always felt good…every medal for Portugal is tasty, when you hear the anthem…a medal for Portugal, a medal for all of us “.