Tiago Luís Pereira ensured this Saturday the Portuguese presence in the triple final of the World Athletics Championships, while Isaac Nader advanced to the semifinals of the 1500 meters and the walker João Vieira was established for his longevity.
The 47-year-old veteran walker began his 13th presence in the World Championships on Saturday, in its 19th edition, in Budapest, with 33rd place in the 20-kilometer walk, among the 50 present.
João Vieira, silver medalist in the 50 kilometers in Doha 2019 and bronze in the 20 kilometers in Moscow 2013, equaled the record of the Spaniard and also a walker Jesús Bragado, who had become the athlete with the most appearances four years older than the Portuguese .
The Rio Maior dealer’s trip started very early, with the warm-up for the race that would be delayed two hours due to the storm and torrential rain, a day after finishing a bumpy trip between Lisbon and Budapest, with a stopover too long in Frankfurt while you wait for your bag and supplies for the 35 kilometer race scheduled for Thursday.
At the brand new National Athletics Center, the star of the Portuguese delegation was Tiago Luís Pereira, with 16.77 meters, in his last attempt, ensuring his presence in the triple jump final, defending the national honor in a specialty in which Portugal has two titles, for Nelson Évora, in Osaka 2007, and the already absent Pedro Pablo Pichardo, in Oregon 2022.
More relaxed was the classification of Isaac Nader, who already managed to qualify for Paris 2024, for the semifinals of the 1,500 meters, with fifth place in his series, in 03.34.36 minutes, the 11th record among those present.
On the way were, at the same distance, Salomé Afonso and Marta Pen, 37 and 42 among the 55 of the competition in the 1,500 qualifying, and the shot putters Francisco Belo and Tsanko Arnaudov, who did not exceed 27 and 30 places in the rating.
The 4×400 meter mixed relay, without the national record holder João Coelho, was eliminated, finishing in 16th and last place, also far from the objective of improving the national record – the quartet made up of Omar Elkhatib, Cátia Azevedo, Ricardo dos Santos and Fatoumata Diallo completed the exercise in 03.15.75 minutes, more than a second and a half below the national record (03.14.06).
The XIX World Athletics Championships will take place until August 27 in Budapest.
Source: TSF
