Following the closure of the Games on Sunday evening, José Garcia, head of the Portuguese mission, said the Olympics results fell below expectations.
“We should have won two medals [based on calculations that 25 percent of a country’s athletes should reach the podium] and we did everything we could for that to happen. We have to admit that that number was not reached, but we did everything, especially the athletes, to honour that commitment”, José Garcia told newspaper Correio da Manhã (CM).
According to CM, the largest ever investment in preparing Portuguese athletes for the Olympics was made this time round, to a total of €17.7 million.
Mr. Garcia added that the investment was noticeable in the team’s development: “We have improved on a general scale and that is what we intend, for the team to grow, to strengthen, and to get better and better.”
Portugal return home with one bronze medal, won in Judo by female Judoka Telma Monteiro, and ten finalist diplomas, a document given to athletes finishing in the top eight.
For winning bronze in Judo, Telma Monteiro will receive a €17,500 prize from the Portuguese government. A gold would have netted €40,000, and silver €25,000.
Hopes were also pinned on Portugal’s canoeing team, although they failed to secure any place on the podium, ranking sixth in the K4 1,000 metres category.
The Olympic Games drew to a close on Sunday night with an official closing ceremony during which the Olympic flag was handed over to Japan, which will be hosting the next round of games in 2020.
The top-three scoring teams in terms of medals at the Rio Olympics 2016 were the US, followed by Great Britain and China.