Marco Fortes (born 26 September 1982) is a male

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

ter from Portugal. His personal best throw is 21.02 meters – Portuguese record – was achieved at the

2012 European Cup Winter Throwing The 2012 European Cup Winter Throwing was held on 17 and 18 March at the Stadion Topolica in Bar, Montenegro. It was the twelfth edition of the athletics competition for throwing events and was jointly organised by the European Athletic Associatio ...

Bar, Montenegro Bar (Montenegrin language, Montenegrin: Bar, Бар, , ) is a town and seaport in Coastal Montenegro, Coastal region of Montenegro. It is the capital of the Bar Municipality and a center for tourism. According to the 2023 census, the city proper ...

, where he won the gold medal.

Career

Fortes was born in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

to Mozambican immigrants. At the age of 25, he was the first Portuguese shot putter to participate in the Olympics. In Beijing 2008, after beating his personal (and national) record (18.05) he jokingly stated "I seem to perform better in the afternoon. Apparently I would do better to remain in bed on mornings." In response, he was expelled from the Olympic committee. This spawned controversy, especially when

Nelson Évora Nelson Évora GCIH (born 20 April 1984) is an Ivory Coast-born Portuguese track and field athlete of Cape Verdean descent who specializes in the triple jump. Évora is a former outdoor Olympic, World, and European triple jump champion. He h ...

, who was the only Portuguese athlete to earn olympic gold that year, protested against his expulsion upon his victory speech on national TV. Marco Fortes carried on beating his personal (and national) records, arriving at 20.52 in 2009, 20.89 in 2011, and 21,02 in 2012. In his second participation in the Olympics, in London 2012, he rose from his 2008 classification of 38th place to 15th place.

Achievements

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fortes, Marco 1982 births Living people Athletes from Lisbon Portuguese male shot putters Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Portugal S.L. Benfica athletes Portuguese people of Mozambican descent Black Portuguese sportspeople 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen