Portugal will compete starting Sunday at World Skateboarding, in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, with “three levels of expectations” in the street aspect, with the debut of female representation, in addition to the novelty of participation in the park.
“We go with different types of athletes with different backgrounds. Gustavo (Ribeiro) will always fight for the first places, according to his track record and competitive experience,” the national technical director, Nuno Ferrão, explained to Lusa.
The referee defined a “second line” among the 11 summoned, namely Gabriel Ribeiro and Rafaela Costa, the other skaters, so far, best positioned to discuss a classification for the Paris 2024 Games.
Gabriel is ranked 27th in the qualifying ranking, in which his brother Gustavo is third, while Rafaela is 28th: since both benefit from the fact that the maximum number of representatives per country is three athletes, Gabriel rises to 21st place .º and Rafaela at 22
“For everyone else, the idea is to raise the bar. There is a lot of similarity between the athletes, and we have several very young ones who join the project of Olympic hopes. The idea is for them to gain experience”, Nuno Ferrão clarified. .
Subsequently, the federation will “give an opportunity” to a Portuguese resident in the United States, Thomas Augusto, an athlete who will debut the Portuguese presence in the park world championships, trusting in his “good performance.”
For Paris 2024, the skating federation is committed to “increasing the number of qualifiers” compared to Tokyo 2020, in the debut of the modality that featured Gustavo Ribeiro as eighth place in the street aspect.
“We want to get at least two. Afterwards, everything is possible,” he reinforced.
The World Cup that is now being played corresponds to that of 2022, since it was not played, as planned, in Brazil: there are still no dates or places, however, it is “foreseeable” that this year the 2023 World Cup will continue to be played and for year there is a new maximum test before the Olympic Games.
The performance in the world championships is essential, since it is clearly the event that obtains the most points for the Olympic qualification ranking.
Call for the Calle section, which runs from January 29 to February 5: Gustavo Ribeiro, Gabriel Ribeiro, Bruno Senra, Madu Teixeira, Pacal Teixeira, Pedro Araújo, Madalena Galante, Margarida Cepeda, Rafaela Costa and Matilde Ribeiro.
Call the branch of the Park, which operates from February 5 to 12: Tomás Augusto.
Source: TSF
