RIO MAIOR IN LONDON

Many camps and training days are now rewarded with a ticket to the most important sport competition of all. High competition athletes use the facilities and services of the Sports Complex every day, pointing out the recognized quality of the equipment and support services such as the catering, the technical support, the physiotherapy or sports medicine, nowadays, fundamental for any top team’s or athlete’s preparation.

Race walkers from Rio Maior stand out among these athletes, some of them already with several participations in Olympic Games. The race walkers João Vieira, Inês Henriques and Vera Santos will compete, while Susana Feitor should also be present in London, but as a substitute, because the female call also includes the Algarve Cabecinha Ana. Susana Feitor has participated in five editions of the Olympic Games, the first in Barcelona in 1992.

In judo, Yahima Ramirez saw her dedication rewarded, ensuring a presence in London. In the under 78 kg category, the Cuban-born Judoka, with Portuguese nationality, living in Rio Maior, will debut  in an Olympic event.

The swimmer Pedro Oliveira, born in Rio Maior, but actually studying and living in the United States, ensured the Olympic minimum in the European Championship, reaching the minimum B to London 2012, in 200 meter backstroke.

Other young Portuguese swimmers will compete in London: Carlos Almeida, Simão Morgado, Tiago Venâncio, Diogo Carvalho, Sara Oliveira and Ana Rodrigues. During a sports season, part of these swimmers preparation was in training camps performed in Rio Maior, in the High Performance Swimming Centre.

Many other international athletes, passing recently through Rio Maior, are going to London, being the outstanding Brazilian triathlete Pâmella Oliveira from the "Project Rio Maior in 2016" one of them. This first classification, from this young hope in the Brazilian sports, had an enormous impact on her country, where she is outstanding due to her development as an athlete, since she began "living" in the Centre and training in Rio Maior. Among many triathletes who have trained and make their training camps in Rio Maior, are the Portuguese Joao Silva and Bruno Pais, the Russian Ivan Vasiliev, the Ukraine Yulia Yelistratova the Brazilian Reinaldo Colucci and Diogo Sclebin, already with tickets to London.