A BOLA – Portugal without seniors in European cross country (Athletics)
Portugal participates in the 28th edition of the European Cross Country Championships, this morning, in Turin, Italy, as a totalist nation in terms of participation in the competition and one of the most awarded medals (59) in the different categories of gender and age groups, but for the first time without representation in the seniors, which are worth a large part of the achievements of the national team.
The Portuguese team only competes at youth level competitions (under-20 and under-23), «but with some athletes with a lot of experience in this competition», justifies the national mid-distance and long-distance coach, António Sousa. «There is an unequivocal commitment to young people who have discovered talent, which is a very important premise to represent our half-distance team in international competitions», explains the same person in charge of the Portuguese Athletics Federation.
In preview of the participation of the 21 Portuguese athletes (11 male and 10 female), António Sousa points out «the very high level of the competition, which has been rising from year to year» and considers the route traced in La Mandria Park, in Piemonte, «very challenging, perhaps one of the most difficult in recent years».
«Despite some important casualties due to injury, we have expectations for the under-23s, with a natural highlight for Mariana Machado, who has a great possibility of returning to the podium, as happened in the last two editions». The SC Braga Athlete won bronze medals at the European Championships in Dublin in 2021 and Lisbon in 2019, the latter still at the under-20 level, and is the current absolute champion of Portugal. The technician believes that «the mixed relay», in its third presence, after 2018 and 2019, «has the potential to perform well». This quartet is led by the more experienced Salomé Afonso, 25 years old, who will line up with his Sporting teammates, Patrícia Silva and Nuno Pereira, and the Benfica player Isaac Nader.
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