On that 21st of August 2008, it was raining in Beijing, in distant China, but not even the adverse weather conditions prevented Nelson Évora from taking three leaps into eternity. With a 17,67 meter mark in the triple jump, he won the gold medal at the Olympic Games. This Tuesday, the 21st, marks 10 years of the feat and, to mark it, the athlete had a special training session in Albufeira, under the watchful eye of his fan Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
Upon arrival, the President of the Republic, who is on holiday in the Algarve, immediately addressed Nelson Évora, who hugged him and stayed in conversation. Recalling what happened 10 years ago, the Olympic champion revealed that he woke up that day "with the noise of thunder". And Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, in his own way, said: «it was a good sign for what was to come».
It is certain that the athlete would even go on to win the Gold, becoming the fourth Portuguese to achieve it at the Olympic Games, after Carlos Lopes (Los Angeles, 1984), Rosa Mota (Seoul, 1988) and Fernanda Ribeiro (Atlanta, 1996).
10 years later, on the track of the Victoria Sports & Beach Hotel, in Açoteias, Albufeira, Nelson Évora showed, jumping and running, why he continued to win. This month, on the 12th of August, and at the age of 34, the athlete won the gold medal at the European Athletics Championships, the only big title he was missing.
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, accompanied by João Paulo Rebelo, Secretary of State for Youth and Sports, and José Carlos Rolo, mayor of Albufeira, attended the entire training session and even clapped his hands with Nelson Évora.
«He is a champion. There are many very good ones, but he has been the best of the best. In the lives of many, they happen to be champions once. Win once. He didn't win once, he won many times and all there was to win. He is not a normal champion, he is a doubly excellent, doubly exceptional champion», said, at the end of training, the President of the Republic.
The Head of State did not forget Nelson Évora's role as the country's ambassador. «When you talk about Portugal, anywhere in the world, you know who Nelson Évora is. When we want to give one or more examples of excellence, we talk about Nelson Évora», he said, flanked by the athlete.
The recent achievement at the European Championships also deserved words of praise from Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who praised the athlete's determination and persistence.
“He won when many hoped he would no longer win. There is a time when you look at the athlete and think: well, he is old. It was very good, but now there are new ones, with other forms of training. There were many who thought so, but it pissed him off, it stung him. He is Portuguese and the Portuguese are never finished», commented the President.
Nelson Évora listened to Marcelo's words, always with a smile on his face, and even confessed that he never expected to be able to «share some day-to-day details with the President», in a training session that was «different, but extremely pleasant».
“If you asked me 10 years ago if I expected to win all these titles, I would say no, but the truth is that I have always fought for them all, with motivation and commitment. Even after so many falls, I wanted to prove that our Portuguese people are strong by nature», said the Sporting athlete.
With training over, Nelson Évora did not want to let the President of the Republic go away without a gift. Or rather two. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa received, from the champion's hands, some running shoes and a shirt similar to the one Nelson Évora wore in Beijing.
The President was not asked and announced, first hand, that he will award the athlete with the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit. The ceremony will take place on the 3rd of September, at 14:30 pm, at the Palácio de Belém, but it could have happened before.
“A year ago I decided to decorate him and we scheduled the ceremony two or three times, but he has a special character. Geniuses are like that. The day before, he said to me: on second thought, not yet, because I don't want this decoration to be a farewell. And, as geniuses are stubborn, not even the President of the Republic was able to impose himself», revealed Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
For Nelson Évora, this is the right time for this award. "Now, at the end of the season, it makes sense," he said.
What about future goals? Évora promises to jump «always to break records».
And, who knows, repeat the feat of that rainy day in Beijing, sounding again “A Portuguesa” on the podium of the 2020 Olympic Games, in Tokyo, Japan.
Photos: Pedro Lemos | Sul Informação
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