The athletes of the Portuguese athletics team will arrive in groups this Friday in Budapest to participate in the World Championships, which start on Saturday and last until the 27th, many without their luggage.
On the verge of becoming the athlete with the most appearances at World Cups, with the 13th participation tied with Spain’s Jesus Bragado, veteran hiker João Vieira, aged 47, arrived in the Hungarian capital with the shoes for the race and little else .
He hurriedly declined to go into detail about the arduous journey from Lisbon, which began on Thursday with a layover and forced overnight stay in Frankfurt, Germany, and an alternate flight via Vienna, after arriving in the Hungarian capital at about 4:00 p.m. hours in Lisbon).
The Sporting athlete will be the first of 28 Portuguese to take part in the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Saturday, in the 20-kilometer walk, which they have a starting gun, at Praça dos Heróis, at 08:50 local time (07:50).
Calmer because she only competed on Sunday, but also “lighter”, despite the setbacks, discus thrower Irina Rodrigues made no secret of her satisfaction in participating in her sixth consecutive World Cups, now that her academic career has been completed.
“I’m a lighter Irina, not only because I lost weight, but also because I lost the weight of completing the integrated master’s degree in Medicine. athlete, 32 years old.
The natural pitcher from Leiria pledges commitment to improving her most recent performance, after placing 23rd in Oregon2022 and Doha2019, with the best ranking of ninth position in her debut, in Moscow2013.
“That’s the goal, trying to get a good result. I’m feeling good, I’m healthy, I’m grateful and if that’s the case, I think things can happen,” she said.
Irina Rodrigues assumed she was lucky, having brought her suitcase from the airport, remembering the misadventures of the Portuguese entourage’s journey.
“We left with a delayed flight to Frankfurt. When we arrived we had time for the connection to Budapest, but there was a lack of ‘staff’ and it was cancelled. We stayed in a hotel, with the aim of getting to the airport very early to try a flight and we managed to get on a direct flight because although the FPA had bought trips through Vienna, Lufthansa managed to ‘fit’ some of them into this plane,” explains Irina Rodrigues out.
According to the pitcher, all this ultimately gave the athletes little rest and some fear.
“We slept very little. I slept about four hours, I didn’t have lunch and I’m stressed because I was on the road for many hours. It’s not the ideal conditions, but I’m here, everything is fine, and I need to be here thankful for it,” she said.
Francisco Belo, on the other hand, was less fortunate and also traveled without luggage, despite taking part in the shot put competition on Saturday, together with Tsanko Arnaudov.
“Physically, this trip can have negative consequences because we sleep a few hours, eat a little worse, can get dehydrated and spend a little more time on our feet. In terms of the psychological part, I think we managed to jump a lot We are very flexible and basically nothing will change our performance since we are so close to the test,” explains Belo, who also graduated in medicine.
The Benfica striker, born in Castelo Branco, declared himself fit for his third World Cup.
“There was a problem with the bags, mine didn’t arrive but I brought the competition equipment so I’m ready to compete. We have been traveling since 12pm yesterday. [quinta-feira] feeling like it was just a really long day. Now I can rest and tomorrow [no sábado]”I will be ready to give my best for Portugal,” Belo assured.
This while the luggage was awaited in the hotel of the Portuguese team and an alternative was sought with the help of local trade, for example to supply supplies and equipment that were still on the way.
Source: DN
