Portugal with the second largest delegation of all time in the European indoor track and field athletics

vbnFebruary 25, 2021

Portugal will compete in the next European Athletics Championships with the second largest delegation of all time with 16 athletes, according to the request announced on Thursday.

The delegation of these Europeans in Torun, Poland, planned for March 5-7, ended on Wednesday with the confirmation of the minimum requirements by the group of three Patrícia Mamona, who came second at the meeting in Madrid.

The largest participation of Portuguese athletes took place in Vienna in 2002 with 18 athletes, followed by four editions with 13 athletes.

On the list are Evelise Veiga, who could not confirm any minimum requirements at the Belgrade meeting on Wednesday, as well as the sprinters Ancuiam Lopes and Delvis Santos.

Ancuiam Lopes, who covered at least 60 meters in Eaubonne, France, at the end of January, did not go to the Portuguese championship and then did not get an “OK” from the FPA’s medical department. Delvis Santos only hit the minimum on Monday, the day after the date set by the Portuguese Athletics Federation, at 60 meters.

Regarding the 16 names now confirmed, the highlight goes to Auriol Dongmo at the start of the weight and Pedro Pichardo at the triple jump, leading in their specialties in Europe.

Patrícia Mamona is third best in the women’s triple and Francisco Belo is 10th of the year in the weight start.

Of the 16 athletes in the selection, seven are from the female and nine from the male sector. Sporting and Benfica have the biggest “slice” of the chosen ones and only escape the “wave” of the two Lisbon clubs Mariana Machado from Sporting de Braga and Mauro Pereira from Sobral da Ceira.

Two of the three major Portuguese bets on medals make their debut with “indoor” Europeans after they have been naturalized: Pedro Pichardo was born in Cuba and Auriol Dongmo was born in Cameroon. In addition, most of them are newbies (11 out of 16 athletes).

With experience in previous Europeans are Patrícia Mamona (triple), Francisco Belo (weight), Carlos Nascimento and Lorene Bazolo (60 meters) and Cátia Azevedo (400 meters).