The Portuguese Ana Cabecinha (CO Pechão) won this Sunday the bronze medal in the 20-kilometre walk test at the European Team Championship, held in Poderbrady, Czechia.
The Portuguese walker completed the race in 1:29.35 hours, losing by 18 seconds to the Greek Antigoni Ntrispioti, champion in 1:29.17, and by 16 to the Italian Antonella Palmisano, silver in 1:29.19.
Ana Cabecinha, 39, achieved her best time of the year, in a race in which she was always in the leading group and, in the final part, managed to take the last place on the podium, with 23 seconds ahead of the Ukrainian Lyudmila Olyanovska.
The walker CO Pechão, who was 15 seconds away from qualifying directly for the World Cup in Budapest, is the national record holder in the distance since she did 1:27.46 hours on August 21, 2008, at the Beijing Olympics.
“I didn’t expect to end up with this result, to be on the podium, but I enjoyed the competition to the fullest. This is my last participation in this European Cup [Campeonato Europeu de Seleções] and I am very happy to finish like this, with third place”, said the Portuguese, who hopes to “arrive in Paris 2024”.
As for the rest of Portugal, Vitória Oliveira closed in 19th place (1:34.41), Carolina Costa in 24th place (1:35.59, best mark of the year) and Inês Mendes in the immediate position (1:37.49).
Overall, Italy triumphed, with 21 points, ahead of Ukraine (25) and France (37). Spain was fourth (40) and Portugal closed in fifth position (46), with the same points as Greece, which closed the standings behind the Portuguese.
In the men’s competition, the Portuguese veteran João Vieira closed the top 10, with a maximum of 1:22.08 hours in the year, while Rui Coelho was in 36th place, with 1:32.09.
The winner was the Italian Francesco Fortunato, who completed the race in 1:18.59 hours, the best European mark of 2023.
Source: TSF
