Pedro Pablo Piccardo, an athlete born in Cuba, but with Portuguese citizenship, landed on Tuesday, at Humberto Delgado Airport, in Lisbon, after becoming the world champion in triple jump, in Eugene, in the United States, with 17, 95 metres, the best. World Mark of the Year, on the first try.
The national media was waiting for the athlete’s arrival to collect some data, but Piccardo avoided passing in front of reporters, and left, accompanied by his father, without making a statement.
Luis Pereira, head of the delegation who was present at the World Cup, justified the athlete’s decision: “We had several difficulties to board, with a delay of three hours, I was not sure whether the luggage came with us, Pedro is very tired, he made a trip that left him very tired, exhausted Today he is not in good shape, give him a rest and in the short term he will be available to talk to you all.”
When asked if there was any concern between Pedro Piccardo and the Portuguese Athletics Federation, Luis Pereira confirmed there was no concern: “I was the one who greeted him in Eugene, on the 15th, he arrived very late, and since then, we got there. Great relationship, with a lot of dialogue, we talked a lot. On the day of the competition as you can see from the TV footage, after the victory, after the coach’s hug, he went to the captain of the entourage [o próprio Luís Pereira]. He was always dedicating the medal to the Portuguese people and to the Portuguese Athletics Federation, and there is absolutely no inconvenience, we are in perfect harmony. What happened was that Pedro arrived very tired. He has always spoken to the Portuguese, and is grateful for the way he was integrated and how the country received him. He is very tired and wants to introduce himself to the Portuguese as he did on the track.”
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