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The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Portugal

This page contains a list of the greatest Portuguese Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 3,059 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 51.27, 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, and 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 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 to 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 (1958 - )

With an HPI of 47.99, Rosa Mota is the 2nd most famous Portuguese Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 29 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. Mário de Noronha (1885 - 1973)

With an HPI of 41.78, Mário de Noronha is the 3rd most famous Portuguese Athlete. His biography has been translated into 15 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.

4. Fernanda Ribeiro (1969 - )

With an HPI of 37.80, Fernanda Ribeiro is the 4th most famous Portuguese Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 24 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.

5. António Leitão (1960 - 2012)

With an HPI of 36.04, António Leitão is the 5th most famous Portuguese Athlete. His biography has been translated into 17 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. Manuela Machado (1963 - )

With an HPI of 35.04, Manuela Machado is the 6th most famous Portuguese Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 17 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.

7. Patrícia Mamona (1988 - )

With an HPI of 33.63, Patrícia Mamona is the 7th most famous Portuguese Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Patrícia Mbengani Bravo Mamona ComM (born 21 November 1988) is a Portuguese triple jumper of Angolan descent. She won the gold medal at the 2016 European Athletics Championships in Amsterdam, Netherlands. This was her first-ever major senior title and second European Championships medal, after a silver at the 2012 championships. In 2021 she won the gold medal at the European Indoor Championships in Toruń, Poland after recovering for 4 weeks from COVID-19. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she won the silver medal with a national record of 15.01 m. At club level, she represents Sporting Clube de Portugal. Mamona attended Clemson University and won two NCAA Championships in women's triple jump (2010, 2011).

8. Carla Sacramento (1971 - )

With an HPI of 33.11, Carla Sacramento is the 8th 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.

9. Rui Silva (1977 - )

With an HPI of 33.06, Rui Silva is the 9th most famous Portuguese Athlete. His biography has been translated into 21 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.

10. João Vieira (1976 - )

With an HPI of 30.04, João Vieira is the 10th most famous Portuguese Athlete. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

João Paulo Garcia Vieira (born 20 February 1976) is a Portuguese racewalker. He placed tenth for Portugal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the 20 km walk and third at the 2006 European Championships. At the 2012 Summer Olympics he finished in 11th in the 20 km walk. He became, at 43, the oldest medalist ever at the 2019 World Athletics Championships, finishing second at the 50 km race walk. In 2021, he placed 5th at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the men's 50 kilometres walk and set a season best. His twin brother Sérgio Vieira is a race walker as well.

People

Pantheon has 16 people classified as athletes born between 1885 and 1988. Of these 16, 13 (81.25%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living athletes include Rosa Mota, Fernanda Ribeiro, and Manuela Machado. The most famous deceased athletes include Francisco Lázaro, Mário de Noronha, and António Leitão. As of April 2022, 1 new athletes have been added to Pantheon including Mário de Noronha.