The athletes Irina Rodrigues, Sara Moreira and Lia Lemos are no longer part of Sporting’s women’s athletics team, as announced this Friday by the Lisbon club Jessica Augusto, already announced by Sporting de Braga.

To all the athletes, the Sporting Clube de Portugal thanks their professionalism, dedication and seriousness and wishes them the best personal and professional congratulations,” reads the lions’ website.

Discus thrower Irina Rodrigues has represented Sporting since 2019, having been present at the 2012 and 2020 Olympic Games, as well as several World and European Games, helping Sporting win the European Champion Club Track Cups in 2016 and 2018. He was also part of the team that won 12 national track championships and multiple national indoor championships.

Sara Moreira, cross, middle and long distance athlete, reached the Alvalade shield in 2015 and, at the service of the Verdiblanco shield, was at the 2016 Olympic Games and at the European and World Championships, having won the gold medal in the half marathon at the 2016 European Championships. For Sporting, Sara Moreira was the European Track and Cross Country Club Champion and won several national track, indoor, cross country and road championships.

Lia Lemos, a long-distance and middle-distance athlete who had joined Sporting last season, has also left the Lisbon club, after having contributed to the conquests of the national track, cross-country and indoor championships in 2022.

Jessica Augusto returns to Sporting de Braga and dreams of being in Paris 2024

These three athletes join Jéssica Augusto, also cross, middle and long distance, presented at Sporting de Braga, who has represented Sporting since 2016, the year in which she also participated in the Olympic Games.

The athlete participated in various European and world championships, having won a bronze medal at the 2016 European half marathon.

“It was always a desire to finish my career at the club where I started (…). In my head, the goal I set for myself was to finish high performance in two years,” said the athlete in statements released by the club, assuming a wish: “Do everything to bid farewell to the Olympic Games in Paris, which was the city where I was born. . . That was what motivated me to come home.”

Jessica Augusto, holder of several European long, middle and long distance medals, expressed her willingness to work as a team “to put Sporting de Braga in its rightful place: first”.

“We will all work to put the club at the top of the national championships, go to the European Cups and fight for the podiums. These are the objectives that I set for myself and I hope that my teammates also set them for themselves, because we have a good team. We have to believe that it is possible”, said the athlete, who has won several national titles.

On Thursday, Jessica Augusto announced her departure from Sporting on the social network Instagram, thanking the club, the fans and her teammates and saying: “I have fulfilled many dreams, won and helped win many titles, which will remain forever in my memory. and written in the great history book of the club”.

Jessica Augusto, who also represented Marathon, joins 21-year-old Lia Lemos, who spent time at Maia and Sporting.