Portuguese sailors Pedro Costa and Diogo Costa secured their qualification for this summer’s Tokyo Olympics at the 470 Olympic Sailing World Championship which took place in Vilamoura last week. It was the last slot still available for the men’s 470 class.
For the Portuguese sailing duo, a 10th place finish in the first race of the day was enough to secure a spot in the Olympics ahead of the Swiss team, described as their main rivals in the race to Tokyo.
“It is the first time we have achieved the qualification for the Olympic Games, it is the crowning achievement of the work that started in 2016 after we won the 420 World Championship,” said Pedro Costa.
His sailing partner Diogo Costa added that last Friday (March 12) was a “very hard but fulfilling day,” but that in the end they were able to achieve their goals and outperform their Swiss rivals.
In the overall rankings of the 470 World Championship, the Portuguese duo finished in second place behind only Spain’s Jordi Xammar and Nicolas Rodriguez.
Portuguese President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has praised the two sailors, highlighting their achievements and thanking the Portuguese Sailing Federation for their “persistent work”.
