In 2021, Agaté de Sousa was unable to leave Portugal to compete abroad because they would not let her in anymore. He had been in the country for two years, studying economics and playing sports, but his mobility was limited because he did not have Portuguese citizenship. For her, who was born in Sao Tome and Principe, things have been moving slowly. But she continued to fly farther and farther, and with her naturalization completed, five years after her arrival in Portugal, and with a license from the International Association of Athletics Federations, Agate de Sousa entered firmly into the honor of Portuguese sport, winning the bronze medal. On the final day of the European Athletics Championships in Rome.
It was the Portuguese’s third medal for these Europeans, after Liliana Ca’s bronze in the discus and Pedro Pichardo’s silver in the triple, but with the difference that it was obtained directly on her debut in major competitions. The Benfica athlete has already left good indicators in the qualifiers and is credited with setting a personal record of 7.03 meters (which is the record for São Tomé), and her entry into the first division did not disappoint. He never stopped standing on the podium (and even led the competition) and was very close to his best, taking the medal with a distance of 6.91 metres.
The Portuguese jumper opened the final with a distance of 6.87 meters and was the leader of the competition after the first round of jumps. She lost first place to German Malaika Mihambo, who made the only two jumps in the final above seven meters (7.22m and 7.04m) and was also surpassed by Frenchwoman Hilary Kapcha (a new personal best of 6.88m). But Agate took back the silver with a distance of 6.91m in the third test.
The other German jumper in this final, Michaele Assani, was the first to threaten the Portuguese’s position, with a distance of 6.91m in the third test, but Al Aqeeq benefited from having the second best jump (6.87m compared to the German’s 6.70m). As for the one who did more than threaten, it was Italian Larissa Iabicino, who jumped 6.94 meters in the last test and won the silver medal. The athlete coached by Mario Anibal, who is still the Portuguese decathlon record holder, was no longer able to fight back, but held on for an impressive bronze medal.
With the performance of Agate de Sousa, Portugal’s best prospects have been confirmed once again with a strong presence in the women’s tournament, something not seen since the days of Naide Gomes. Also a native of São Tomé, Agate has already secured a place in the Olympic Games in Paris, but this The figure achieved in Rome brought it closer to the national record of Naid (7.12m), who is a two-time European runner-up in height and world indoor champion in height and in the heptathlon.
Her development has been amazing. In 2019, when he moved to Portugal, his best mark was 6.05 metres. She began training under Mario Anibal at the Fatima Athletics Group and showed proficiency in many events, but with a clear tendency towards horizontal jumps. In 2023, in a competition in Germany, he crossed seven meters for the first time, at a time when he was already representing Benfica. Now, he already has a medal in major competitions and wants more.
Isaac is out of the fight
This final day of the European Championships in Rome promised good things for the Portuguese delegation, and that promise was only partially fulfilled, because the other podium candidate, Ishak Nader, ended up not standing in the 1500m final. The Portuguese athlete was always in a good position until the last lap and tried the final acceleration at the turn towards the finish line, but ran out of fuel in the last meters and finished in 10th place (3 minutes 34.22 seconds), perhaps sensing the drivers’ effort. The semi-final in which he fell. The winner was Norwegian Jacob Ingebrigtsen, without any discussion, with a time of 3:31.95 seconds, which is a new record for the championship.
Nader was the last Portuguese to participate on the final day of these tournaments. Before that, in addition to Agate de Sousa, there was also a Portuguese presence in the 4 x 400 m final, where the quartet of Ricardo dos Santos, Erikson Tavares, João Coelho and Omar Al Khatib finished in sixth place, setting a new national record (3 min 01.89). second). .
