Mariana Machado is a Portuguese athlete who won the silver medal at the Mediterranean Games. The young sprinter spoke about the demands of competing at the highest level of sport, highlighting the physical and mental challenges she faces as an elite athlete.
The athlete expressed her dissatisfaction with the conditions available for athletics in Portugal, calling for more investment and support for the sport. According to Mariana, Portuguese athletes are not inferior to those from other countries and deserve the same training and competition conditions.
Mariana Machado proudly embraces her mother's legacy, Albertina Machado, also a reference athlete. The athlete acknowledges the importance of this family heritage in her career and her identity as a sportswoman, although the article does not specify Albertina Machado's achievements.
The statement "we are not less than the others" summarizes the athlete's position on the need to valorize Portuguese athletics and its practitioners, defending that the country must invest adequately so that athletes can reach their full potential.
