By Melody Gross 
Mariana Machado was a national team athlete to achieve the best result at the European Cross Country Championships, in Turin, when she finished the under-23 race in 9th place.
Mariana Machado, the national champion who was looking for her third medal in Europe after bronze in 2021 and 2019, finished the course in a time of 20.56 minutes, 1.01 minutes off Italian winner Nadia Patocletti.
In the same competition, Lea Lemos (21.31 minutes) from SC Braga also, and Ines Borba (23.05) from Sporting finished 23rd and 55th, respectively.
In men, Miguel Moreira (Benfica) was the best Portuguese by finishing in 16th place with a time of 24.33 minutes, in a race won by Briton Charles Hicks (23.40).
Ruben Amaral (25.11) from Sporting finished 44th, while Itson Barros (25.24) and Pedro Amaro (25.37), both from Benfica, finished 47th and 54th.
Ana Marinho (Sao Salvador do Campo) was 38th with a female’s 14.08 minutes, and Rodrigo Lima (Sporting), 51st with 18.51, was the best Portuguese in the under-20 category.
The mixed national relay, consisting of Salome Afonso, Patricia Silva, Nuno Pereira (all from Sporting) and Isaac Nadir (Benfica), took 10th place, and at the same time (17.56) from the Republic of Ireland, 9th.
It was the first time that Portugal did not compete at the top level as they won 28 editions with five individual victories and ten team victories.