Doha World Cup – No Portuguese has ever done this before: Diogo returns to 50 Mariposa final

Ribeiro, the Fukuoka 2023 vice world champion, continues to compete for the podium, which will happen on Monday afternoon, starting at 4 p.m. He is the first Portuguese to reach two World Championship finals and fourth overall at individual level

This Sunday afternoon, in the Aspire Dome pool, Diogo Ribeiro qualified for the final of the 50 butterfly for the 21st World Cup in Doha 2024, clocking 23.18 seconds, a time that made the Benfica swimmer the second fastest player in the second half of the tournament. – Final and fourth among the 16, equal with Australian Isaac Cooper (23.18).

Ribeiro, 19, has thus reached Portugal's fourth singles final at the event, two of which he has already won at the same event. Previous achievements were achieved by Alexander Yokochi in the 200 breaststroke (5th) in Madrid 1986 and Ana Barros in the 50 backstroke (8th) in Perth 1991. They were joined in the 4 x 50 freestyle relay (7th) by Paulo Trindade, Paulo Camacho and Diogo Madeira. and Artur Costa, also in Perth in 1991.

Diogo, runner-up to the world champion seven months ago in Fukuoka-2023, proved his consistency again on the first day of the championship dedicated to pure swimming, and was only bettered by American Michael Andrew with a time of 22.94 seconds, followed by the athlete. From Trinidad and Tobago, Dylan Carter (23.15) and Spaniard Mario Mola (23.17), are the only ones to beat the Portuguese in his series. The final was concluded with a time of 23.24 seconds, achieved by South Korean Inkul Baek

The Benfica swimmer showed his ability to return to the podium in the race seven months after winning the silver medal in Fukuoka. It was the fastest registration time.

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Early in the morning in Portugal, Rebelo joined the last of the seven series, having also stopped the clock at 23.18 seconds and completed qualifications in fifth place among 67 participants.

His national record is 22.80 seconds achieved specifically at the World Championships held in Japan in July 2023, which propelled him to the podium and become the first to win a medal in the event and the third to compete in the final.

The choice remains for Doha. The Benfica swimmer spoke about the first major competition in which he will compete in recent months without any setbacks. He wants to break records and knows that will take him far

Remember, the 50 freestyle is not part of the Olympic program, but Diogo has already qualified for the 2024 Paris Games in the 50, 100 freestyle and 100 freestyle events. In Qatar, he will also help in the 4 x 100 relay in the attempt to qualify for the French capital, where this competition concludes the group of 16 qualifying races in the relay race. At the individual level, the qualifiers will be held until June 23.