After her fifth and final Olympic participation, Ana Cabecinha, «the miracle of Pechão» in the words of coach Paulo Murta, received a worthy reception in the small town where she began practicing sports 28 years ago. Now, after her high-performance career has ended, she remains willing to help her Clube Oriental de Pechão (COP).
On Saturday, the club from the village of the municipality of Olhão prepared a worthy reception for its athlete – who ended her Olympic career in Paris, three months after becoming a mother –, closing Rua 25 de Abril and laying out a red carpet to the its two symbols, coming directly from the Airport of Faro.
Ana Cabecinha and Paulo Murta were received with lots of applause by more than a hundred people and the athlete's older brother was the first to receive a comforting hug.
It still took many minutes for the runner to hug practically everyone present and, while drying her tears, take all the photographs upon request.
After the collective “family photo”, with the thank you card, which the COP had prepared and displayed on the wall of its headquarters, in the background, the reception, celebration and emotion continued inside the building, with a welcome session welcome and speeches by representatives of official entities present.
Ana Cabecinha saw again, with tears on her face, the encouraging video that the club's management made and shared on social media before Paris' 2024, which showed her trajectory in the Pechão emblem since 1996, when, at the age of 11, she started the practice of athletics.
The emotion of the athlete, born in Alentejo, but based in the Algarve since she was a child, continued with a video with images of the 84 days postpartum, the preparation and the day of the race in Paris, in which she was ranked 43rd (and last) in the 20 kilometers of walking.
«Ana trained for little more than 10 or 15 days. Training was never at the scheduled time, it was Lourenço who imposed the training rhythms. There was very little training juice", recalled the coach, revealing that the athlete's Olympic presence was at risk.
However, from the moment the invitation arrived to be the standard bearer of the Portuguese mission in Paris, only the fifth Portuguese woman to do so, everything changed. «The honor of carrying the flag» prevailed, with the awareness that the final result was what mattered least.
Ana Cabecinha did, in the French capital, his 97th 20 km race. «We wanted the 100 to be in Paris, but with the pregnancy it didn't happen», confided Paulo Murta.
But there was no better way to end her high-performance career, the coach continued: «It was a victory for Ana. That last lap was emotional, when she kissed Lourenço, a moment that will last a lifetime. And in the last 400 meters, in which all the judges take their hats off. It's a unique moment and that's where we ended Ana's career. Don't get me started, it ended there, at our highest point in terms of our career.”
There was one more surprise: a third and final video with more than two dozen messages from coaches and current and former world and Olympic champion athletes, who competed in dozens of events with the Portuguese.
Former walker Susana Feitor challenged the athlete from Pechão, who took her national record in 2008, to do another Olympic cycle until Los Angeles' 2028, with Cabecinha's immediate reaction: «No, no, I'm not going...»
Olympic triple jump champion Nélson Évora celebrated «the colleague of a lifetime», saying he was «lucky» to be her friend, from the youth championships «until sporting old age», and praising her for her «effort, dedication and , above all, for the human part, which is unique».
Paulo Murta, who considered himself Ana Cabecinha's «career manager», highlighted the persistence and resilience – «fashionable words» – of his athlete, which allowed her to build the high-performance career she built, even giving up a lot of at a personal and family level.
«Ana is the miracle of Pechão, she is not the miracle of Murta. People don't even imagine what high income is. To get there, it takes a lot of time, dedication, availability, and a well-assembled team. It was 28 years and Ana never left the Clube Oriental de Pechão, despite the offers she had. Maybe because of my stubbornness, but also because she felt other things here. It's not just the money, it's this reception that is here, it's the moments she lived in Pechão, it's the family, it's this affection », she stressed.
Finally, Ana Cabecinha recalled that she had already thanked many people, but the “eternal gratitude” had to go to her “lifelong coach” and also “family”, now that she has the responsibility of being Lourenço's godfather.
«He was stubborn and often believed more than I did in the results and the things I could do. I owe my entire career to him. I just have to be grateful to the person, the coach, the human being who raised me, in addition to my parents,” he said, before a much applauded hug.
The marcher also guaranteed that she will maintain her connection to the Clube Oriental de Pechão, whose president Miguel Granja considered her “the greatest reference” of the emblem.
«I will always be linked to the club. Not as a professional athlete, but I will remain a federated athlete, because I will continue to do my weekend races and help the club in regional championships. But, for now, I'm going to take a year off to dedicate myself 100% to my puppy,” she concluded.
Photos: Edgar Pires | Sul Informação
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