Portugal’s Isaac Nader was 12th and last classified yesterday in the 1500 meters final of the World Athletics Championships, in Budapest, Hungary, event won by Britain’s Josh Kerr. Isaac Nader, 24 years old, finished in 3:35.41 minutes. The race that marked the return of Portuguese athletes to the final of the distance, after Rui Silva’s Bronze, in Helsinki 2005, improving the 40th place he had achieved on his debut, in Oregon 2022.
The Benfica athlete even made Portugal dream of winning a medal, as for some time he was among the top five, very close to the athletes in front, but in the last lap he could not keep up with the faster pace of the opponents.
With his personal best (3:29.38 minutes), Josh Kerr defeated the Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Olympic champion and vice world champion at this distance, in second place, while the also Norwegian Narve Gilje Nordas finished in third place.
At the age of 25, Kerr won his first World Cup medal, after finishing fifth in Oregon (2022), sixth in Doha (2019) and 34th in London (2017). Two years ago, however, at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, the Scot won bronze.
Mariana paid the risk
Mariana Machado risked keeping up with the pace of the first in the semifinals of the 5000 meters, but it didn’t pay off. The Sporting de Braga athlete, aged 22, finished the second semi-final in 14th place, in 15:28.97 minutes, in 29th place overall for the two rounds, failing to qualify for the final, scheduled for Saturday .
“I counted on a better result, that’s why I work and dedicate myself every day. I gave it my all and tried to be as far into the fight as possible, at the very fast pace at which the race was launched. I think that’s the positive thing about this course. I am 22 years old, I am still very young, I hope to have many World Cups ahead of me,” said the long-distance runner.
The best Portuguese result in the distance dates back to Helsinki 1995, with second place for Fernanda Ribeiro, who won the bronze medal in Athens 1997. The national record is still held by Fernanda Ribeiro, who completed the 12.5 laps in 14,36,45 minutes on July 22, 1995 in Hechtel, Belgium, which was a world record at the time.
Bazolo, Buaró and Patrícia eliminated
Yesterday morning was all about the elimination of the three Portuguese athletes in the competition. Lorene Bazolo was the one who raised the most expectations, but she failed to qualify for the 200m semifinals, as she placed sixth in the second heat of the qualifiers, with a score of 23.13 seconds, after she had been 26th. among the 44 registered athletes. Newcomer Pedro Buaró, on the other hand, did not get further than 26th place in the qualification of the pole vault competition, in which he only crossed the bar at 5.35 meters, after missing 5.55 meters afterwards. “I was hoping and confident in a personal best because I feel in shape, but it didn’t work out,” the Madeiran jumper lamented. Patrícia Silva, on the other hand, came last in her 800m run after admitting that “the feeling wasn’t the best”.
Demonstrators are open today
Inês Henriques and João Vieira will participate in the 35 kilometer walk test this morning (06:00 in Lisbon).
Both the athlete of CN Rio Maior, world champion in the extinct 50 km in London 2017, and the Sporty walker, silver in the 50 in Doha 2019 and bronze in Moscow 2013, have already won medals at World Championships. João Vieira, enjoying his 13th World Cup appearance and being the oldest in the delegation, will take part in his second race in Budapest 2023, having completed the 20km walk in 33rd place.
Shared gold in pole vault
North American Katie Moon and Australian Nina Kennedy decided to share the gold medal in the women’s pole vault final. Both reached 4.90m and failed the three attempts from 4.95m, having decided to share the title rather than go through to a tiebreak, after over two hours of competition.
Norwegian Karsten Warholm, current Olympic champion and world record holder, became world champion in the 400 meters hurdles with 46.89 seconds. In the women’s 400 meters flat, Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic reigned supreme, having completed the trial in 48.76.
Source: DN
