Arnaldo Abrantes
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Arnaldo Abrantes is a Portuguese sprinter (100 and 200 metres), and an athlete of Sporting Clube de Portugal, who made his international debut at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics in Osaka.[1] After having secured the 200m minimum for Osaka in the Portuguese national championships, where he clocked 20.74 and finished second behind National Record holder and Olympic silver medalist Francis Obikwelu, he arrived in Osaka expecting to be knocked out in the first round. However in the first round he finished fifth in his series (the fastest in that round) with a sensational performance of 20.48, a new under-23 National Record and was the first athlete qualified for the next round through non-automatic qualification, despite having a better time than many athletes who qualified directly. He was however knocked out in the quarter finals with a time that wasn't nearly as good as that of the 1st round. Despite this, at the age of only 20 he is a great hope for the future and at the time that black athletes dominate the 100 and 200 metres tracks, he proves that white sprinters can be as good.
[edit] References
- ^ (Portuguese) Sílvia Cruz e Arnaldo Abrantes em destaque nos Nacionais de atletismo, "Arnaldo Abrantes, segundo classificado nos 200 metros, com 20,74 segundos, obteve mínimos para os Mundiais de Osaca, por um centésimo, mas o atleta ainda está hesitante quanto à deslocação ao Japão, pois participará antes nas Universíadas, em Banguecoque. A marca do velocista do Sporting representa também novo recorde nacional de sub-23 e coloca-o como o segundo melhor português de sempre na distância, a seguir a Francis Obikwelu. ", 29th July 2007, Rádio e Televisão de Portugal
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