The president of the Portuguese Olympic Committee (COP) said today that it has been possible to significantly increase support for Olympic preparation and that if “things go well” the country could have greater success at the 2028 Olympic Games.
“We are creating multidisciplinary teams within the logic of athlete preparation, so they are at their peak at the next Olympic Games,” said Fernando Gomes
“Our concern since we stood for the COP was to create the conditions for athletes to prepare better, because if they are better prepared and have better training and preparation conditions, we are closer to winning more medals,” he said, while speaking to journalists at the end of the 34th anniversary session of the Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education of the University of Coimbra, where he was distinguished with the Sports Recognition Award.
The COP president said that if “things continue along these lines,” Portugal could have reason to celebrate “in 2028” at the Los Angeles Olympic Games.
In a conference on the importance of sport sciences in Olympic cycle preparation, Gomes cited Norway as an example — a small country that won the most medals at the last Winter Olympics.
“It is recognised that Norway, with a relatively small population compared to major powers, achieves extraordinary results across various disciplines, not only at the Winter Olympics but also at the Summer Games,” he said, adding that the example was raised “to alert our conscience that there is a path to follow, which can be taken even in a country with significant structural shortcomings in sports culture and financial difficulties.”
Read more: Champions: Sporting lose 3-0 in Norway (with video)
The president of the Portuguese Canoe Federation, Ricardo Machado — who studied at the faculty and was a high-performance athlete there — received the Academic Career Award.
