Nelson Evora remembers Benfica’s move to Sporting: ‘People don’t know what happens behind the scenes’ – athletics

Portuguese jumper Nelson Evora, 37, said on Thursday that he did not want to say goodbye to the triple jump, because he was convinced he could continue to develop and improve at the sporting level.

In a question-and-answer session held at the Web Technology Summit in Lisbon, the 2008 Beijing Olympic champion highlighted “resilience” as the most important and most outstanding feature of an athlete’s career, noting that he wanted to walk the Tokyo 2020 Olympics “with one last big leap.” ”, but how it turned out to be “so tough” with all the emotions I had on the track.

“I always think I can do better. I’m 37 and most journalists ask me about my age and ending, because I’m old…even my family asks me about it. But the truth is that I feel I can do better and there are things I do better today than I can.” I was doing it when I was 20,” he said, in front of dozens of people present at the event.

Nelson Evora admitted that the triple jump track is where he feels “complete” and “at home,” and gave advice for youngsters who want to follow in his footsteps in the sport.

“They have to love what they do and feel very connected to the sport of their choice. This was a secret: I always imagined the movement I had to do when I was off the track,” he explained, dismissing the pressure, considering it “part of the game,” as the body is pushed every A day to ‘maximise’ training, making sure he ‘will fail one day’.

Benfica’s move to Sporting, in October 2016, was also part of the conversation, with the Portuguese athlete admitting that the exchange between rivals sparked a “big war”, but without remorse or hurt.

“It’s time for a change, and I’m glad I did and was well received at Sporting. People don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes and I didn’t want to leave… but no one remembers that I also represented Porto. I’m proud to represent the big three. I don’t play football, but I managed to do it, ”

When asked about the future, Nelson Evora remained conservative and resorted to “cliches” – he admitted – to underscore his optimism: “At first, I imagined going to the Olympics. And then, as an Olympic champion. I would be successful. It’s a cliché, but the sky is the limit. maximum.”

The Web Summit is being held November 1-4 in Lisbon, in person, after the last version was “online” and the organization expects about 40,000 participants, Paddy Cosgriff, CEO of the Summit revealed in September.

Although the expected number of visitors this year will be about 30 thousand less than in the last personal edition, in 2019, the authorities consider this to be the “largest event of 2021” to be held in Lisbon.