You don’t see this gesture often on the athletics track and yet Joao Vitor Oliveira did it. This Tuesday, August 16th, at mid-morning, the 110m hurdles series took place at the European Championships in Munich. A place in the semi-finals was at stake and the Portuguese athlete threw himself on the line to secure his ticket to the next round.
For the sprint discipline, athletes used to do a “break”, an action consisting of throwing the shoulders forward to cross the finish line, the top of the bust counting first. The Lusitanian decided to throw his whole body in to give himself every chance of passing in front of his rivals, and it paid off when he beat Belgian challenger Michel Obassuye to the post. Joao Vitor Oliveira finished fourth in his series and certified his qualification to the semi-finals within a thousandth of a second.
What’s the picture! Portuguese Joao Vitor de Oliveira dives at the end of the 110m hurdles series to finish in the top four and qualify for the semi-finals by a thousandth of a second. #Munich 2022
Follow the rest of the athletics live: https://t.co/APpXb5wB9g pic.twitter.com/HjAZGrQyVO
– francetvsport (@francetvsport) August 16, 2022
The Portuguese is not on his first try! He actually made this amazing gesture in early July, during the Portuguese championship. The one running in the jersey of his club, Benfica Lisbon, had jumped to cross the finish line in first place. And again it worked!
And he was three hundred ahead of Abdel Larniga, the rival of Sporting Lisbon, and thus became the champion of Portugal. Note that he also used his signature gesture during the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Superman doesn’t always wear a cape!
Thibaut Falconate
Final 110m Fifth. Campeonato de POR.
Jano Vitor (Benfica, Camiceta Roja) in La Reinaga.
13.83 / 13.86.009
El piscinazo del año. pic.twitter.com/wvyTSEZPIcOscar Fides. (gabyandersengz) July 1, 2022
