The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Portugal

This page contains a list of the greatest Portuguese Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 16 of which were born in Portugal. This makes Portugal the birth place of the 49th most number of Athletes behind Ireland, and Morocco.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Portuguese Athletes of all time. This list of famous Portuguese Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Portuguese Athletes.

1. Francisco Lázaro (1891 - 1912)

With an HPI of 53.61, Francisco Lázaro is the most famous Portuguese Athlete. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages on wikipedia.

Francisco Lázaro (21 January 1888 – 15 July 1912) was a Portuguese Olympic marathon runner and Portugal's standard-bearer in their first-ever participation at the Olympic Games, the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. Like all the Olympic athletes of his time, Lázaro was an amateur sportsman. His actual job was as a carpenter in an automobile factory in Lisbon. Prior to the Olympics, he had won three national marathon championships in Portugal, where he represented S.L. Benfica. Lázaro was the first athlete to die during a modern Olympic event after collapsing at the 30-kilometer mark (19 miles) of the marathon with a body temperature of 41 °C (105.8°F). The cause of death was initially thought to be severe dehydration due to the high temperature registered at the time of the race. Later, it was discovered that Lázaro had covered large portions of his body with suet to prevent sunburn and to help with speed and lightness while running, but eventually, the wax restricted the athlete's natural perspiration, leading to a fatal body fluid electrolyte imbalance. Before the race, he had supposedly said: "Either I win or I die." The following weekend, a memorial service for Lázaro was attended by 23,000 people at the Olympic Stadium. Approximately US$3,800 (equivalent to $120,000 in 2023) was collected for his wife, and later a monument of Lázaro was placed at the marathon's turning point at Sollentuna, Stockholm. His name was given to a street in Lisbon and the home stadium of football club C.F. Benfica. The novel The Piano Cemetery, by Portuguese novelist José Luís Peixoto, is based on Francisco Lázaro's story.

2. Rosa Mota (b. 1958)

With an HPI of 52.34, Rosa Mota is the 2nd most famous Portuguese Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Rosa Maria Correia dos Santos Mota, GCIH, GCM (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈʁɔzɐ ˈmɔtɐ]; born 29 June 1958) is a Portuguese former marathon runner, one of her country's foremost athletes, being the first sportswoman from Portugal to win Olympic gold. Mota was the first woman to win multiple Olympic marathon medals as well as being the only woman to be the reigning European, World, and Olympic champion at the same time. On the 30th Anniversary Gala of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) she was distinguished as the greatest female marathon runner of all time.

3. Walther Katzenstein (1878 - 1929)

With an HPI of 46.05, Walther Katzenstein is the 3rd most famous Portuguese Athlete. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Walther Katzenstein (8 October 1878 in Lisbon, Portugal – 9 August 1929 in Hamburg) was a German rower who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics. He was part of the German boat Germania Ruder Club, Hamburg, which won the gold medal in the coxed four final B.

4. Mário de Noronha (1885 - 1973)

With an HPI of 44.70, Mário de Noronha is the 4th most famous Portuguese Athlete. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Mário de Noronha (15 January 1885 – 9 July 1973) was a Portuguese fencer. He won a bronze medal in the team épée competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics.

5. António Leitão (1960 - 2012)

With an HPI of 39.42, António Leitão is the 5th most famous Portuguese Athlete. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

António Carlos Carvalho Nogueira Leitão OIH (22 July 1960 – 18 March 2012) was a Portuguese athlete who mainly competed in the long distance events.

6. Fernanda Ribeiro (b. 1969)

With an HPI of 39.34, Fernanda Ribeiro is the 6th most famous Portuguese Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Maria Fernanda Moreira Ribeiro, GCIH (Portuguese pronunciation: [fɨɾˈnɐ̃dɐ ʁiˈβɐjɾu]; born 23 June 1969), is a long-distance runner born in Penafiel, Portugal. The pinnacle of her career was at the 1996 Summer Olympics when she won the women's 10000 m gold medal, establishing a new Olympic record of 31:01.63. Her victory gave Portugal its third Olympic gold medal.

7. Rui Silva (b. 1977)

With an HPI of 38.65, Rui Silva is the 7th most famous Portuguese Athlete. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Rui Manuel Monteiro Silva (born 3 August 1977) is a Portuguese track and field athlete and coach who represents S.L. Benfica. As a distance runner, he specializes at the 1500 and 3000 m events, although he has at times run the 800 metres as well. Silva is the current national champion at 1500 m.

8. Manuela Machado (b. 1963)

With an HPI of 38.20, Manuela Machado is the 8th most famous Portuguese Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Maria Manuela Machado (born 9 August 1963 in Viana do Castelo) is a former Portuguese long-distance runner, who was particularly successful when running the marathon. Unlike many other marathoners, she did not focus on running lucrative city marathons. Instead, she participated in major competitions (which were less monetarily profitable). Machado participated in the marathon in every major competition between 1990 and 2000. In her first major competition, the 1990 European Championships in Athletics in Split, she placed tenth. She placed seventh in both the 1991 World Championships in Athletics in Tokyo and the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. Machado won her first medal in a major competition in the 1993 World Championships in Athletics in Stuttgart when she came in second in the marathon. She won the 1994 European Championships in Helsinki and the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg. In the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, she once again placed seventh. At the 1997 World Championships in Athens, Machado once again won a silver medal. The next year, in Budapest, she won the European Championships again. Although she placed seventh in the 1999 World Championships in Seville, she only managed a 21st place in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Machado represented the Sporting Clube de Braga. She ran her personal best (2:25.09) in the London Marathon in 1999 (and was the third woman to cross the finish line). Machado continued Portugal's successful run in the marathon that Rosa Mota had started. The women's marathon has been part of the European Championships since 1982, and the first time that a non-Portuguese marathoner won the European Championships was at the 2002 European Championships in Munich when Maria Guida of Italy won.

9. Carla Sacramento (b. 1971)

With an HPI of 37.37, Carla Sacramento is the 9th most famous Portuguese Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Carla Cristina Paquete Sacramento OIH (born 10 December 1971 in São Sebastião da Pedreira) is a middle distance runner from Portugal.

10. Vanessa Fernandes (b. 1985)

With an HPI of 36.36, Vanessa Fernandes is the 10th most famous Portuguese Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Vanessa de Sousa Fernandes GOIH ComM OM (Portuguese pronunciation: [vɐˈnɛsɐ fɨɾˈnɐ̃dɨʃ]; born 14 September 1985) is a Portuguese athlete who is a former triathlon European and world champion, and an Olympic medalist. In duathlon, she was also European and world champion. Fernandes won the European Triathlon Championships five consecutive years (5 elite and 3 under-23 titles), beginning in 2004, and on 1 September 2007, she became world champion for the first time, in Hamburg, Germany, managing to grab the only title (apart from the Olympic sceptre) missing from her career. She competes for S.L. Benfica since 2005.

People

Pantheon has 46 people classified as Portuguese athletes born between 1871 and 2001. Of these 46, 41 (89.13%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Portuguese athletes include Rosa Mota, Fernanda Ribeiro, and Rui Silva. The most famous deceased Portuguese athletes include Francisco Lázaro, Walther Katzenstein, and Mário de Noronha. As of April 2024, 30 new Portuguese athletes have been added to Pantheon including Walther Katzenstein, Emanuel Silva, and Chamara Repiyallage.