Ana Cabecinha wins bronze in the 20 km march at the European Teams

Athlete from Clube Oriental do Pechão was the best Portuguese athlete

The Portuguese Ana Cabecinha, athlete from the Clube Oriental de Pechão, won today the bronze medal in the 20 kilometer walk at the European Team Championships, held in Poderbrady, in the Czech Republic.

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 years old, achieved her best record of the year, in a race in which she was always in the front group and, in the final part, managed to hold the last place on the podium, with 23 seconds of advantage over the Ukrainian Lyudmila Olyanovska.

The CO Pechão walker, who was 15 seconds away from qualifying directly for the World Championships in Budapest, is the national record holder for 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 presence in this European Cup [European National Team Championship] and I am very pleased to finish like this, with third place”, said the Portuguese, who hopes to “reach Paris2024”.

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 immediate place (1:37.49).

Collectively, 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 classification after the Portuguese.

 

 



Comments

Ads