Portuguese athlete Laura Taborda was unable to make the final of the 3000m steeplechase at the European Championships held in Birmingham today. She finished ninth in the second qualification session, despite setting her best result of the year.
In the mixed zone of the stadium, Alexander and Laura Taborda expressed regret, noting that her best result of the year was not achieved. She managed to secure positions that qualified for the final, meaning among the top eight, but on the last lap, she showed some hesitation and could not reach eighth place, finishing ninth.
She was the only Portuguese athlete in this discipline to finish the qualification in eighteenth place. The stage was dominated by German athletes Lea Mayer and Gesa Felicitas Krause, who won the series of athletes from Covilhã.
Taborda added that she feels some disappointment because she believed she was in good shape to make the final and was competing well, but unfortunately, this did not happen. She suggested that she could have conserved more energy for the last lap to finish with a sprint and qualify for the final.
For her debut at the European outdoor Championships, Laura Taborda set a 'big goal' for herself—to make the final, which was scheduled for Thursday at 20:29. She concluded that she did everything possible that day, and that this experience served as a lesson, as she hopes to participate in future European Championships, aiming not only to qualify for the final but also to achieve more.
The best result for Portugal in the women's 3000m steeplechase at the European Championships belongs to Clarice Cruz, who took ninth place in Helsinki in 2012.
