By Melody Gross 
Portuguese Maria Martins concluded with a golden key the Portuguese participation in Tokyo 2020 with an Olympic diploma, concluding the aluminum event in seventh place, only two points behind fifth. Thus, the 22-year-old Portuguese woman made a promising start, after experiencing an astonishing regularity.
In a race divided into four different races, the young national cyclist started with 6th place in “Zero” (30 laps on the track), then finished eighth in the “Tempo Race” (30 laps on the track, with 26 averages). sprints that awarded points), before signing his best performance in the elimination event with fifth place. Then, in the points race (80 track laps with 8 middle races), where she entered sixth place, the Portuguese was in a fight for medals, but in the end fell in the table to the last seventh place, surpassing in the last race the world champion Laura Kenny, who was Only sixth at the end of the race.
After all, Jennifer Valenti took the gold, with a score of 124 points, ahead of Japan’s Yumi Kajihara (110) and Dutchman Kirsten Wilde (108). The fourth was Amalie Dideriksen (103), followed by Anita Stenberg (97), Laura Kenny (96) and Maria Martins (95). Practically, the Portuguese is 13 points from the podium and only two points from the top 5.