European Games: Portugal on its way to 10 medals

Canoeing continues to be a reliable source of podiums, as four more were won in Krakow 2023, followed by three medals in athleticism and bronzes in karate and padel tennis.

Along with those nine medals already seized, Portugal has also guaranteed two medals in muaythai, with Matilde Rodrigues (-57kg) and Gonçalo Noites (-71kg) advancing to the semi-finals and thus assuring at least a bronze.

After the first week of the Games, the Portuguese team, consisting of over 200 athletes, is in 14^th place on the medal board, with three golds, three silvers and three bronzes.

Auriol Dongmo imposed himself in weight throwing, Messias Baptista stood out in K1 200 metres, and the duo of Teresa Portela and Kevin Santos took the top steps in K2 200.

In the silvers, João Coelho shone in the 400 metres, as well as Isaac Nader in the 1500m, helping Portugal stay in the first league of European athleticism, with the ‘inevitable’ Fernando Pimenta taking second in K1 500m, his fifth silver at the European Games.

Bronzes came from Ana Cruz in kata, a subdivision of karate, Francisca Laia in K1 200m, which served as the European championship in its sport, and the duo of Afonso Fazendeiro and Miguel Oliveira, who took third place in Padel’s first appearance in the European Games.

Two are still missing, although they’re secured, in the case of Muaythai, as Matilde Rodrigues and Gonçalo Noites have guaranteed themselves a medal in their respective categories – whether its bronze, silver or gold, will be determined in the semi-finals on Monday.

Put together, the current medal count has passed the 10 of Baku 2015 and now looks to the difficult goal of Minsk 2019’s count of 15. Portugal can hope for podium results in the fields of beach football, which its achieved in the 1^st and 2^nd editions, table tennis, ‘sevens’ rugby and hunting rifle shooting.

The third European Games is going on in Krakow and the surrounding Polish region of Malopolska until Sunday, with 30 sports and 48 participating countries, among them Portugal, who have a delegation of over 200 athletes.