Marco Fortes (born 26 September 1982) is a male shot putter from Portugal. His personal best throw is 21.02 meters – Portuguese record – was achieved at the 2012 European Cup Winter Throwing in Bar, Montenegro, where he won the gold medal.
Career Fortes was born in Portugal 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, 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 Representing 2000World Junior ChampionshipsSantiago, Chile18th (q)Shot put16.36 m26th (q)Discus46.32 m2001European Junior ChampionshipsGrosseto, Italy 3rdShot put (6 kg)17.86 m2003European U23 ChampionshipsBydgoszcz, Poland12thShot put17.61 m2004Ibero-American ChampionshipsHuelva, Spain7thShot put17.01 m2006Lusophony GamesMacau 1stShot put17.73 m2008World Indoor ChampionshipsValencia, Spain20th (q)Shot put17.96 mOlympic GamesBeijing, China38th (q)Shot put18.05 m2009European Indoor ChampionshipsTurin, Italy14th (q)Shot put19.00 mLusophony GamesLisbon, Portugal 1stShot put19.74 mWorld Championships Berlin, Germany18th (q)Shot put19.81 m2010European ChampionshipsBarcelona, Spain13th (q)Shot put19.48 mIbero-American ChampionshipsSan Fernando, Spain 1stShot put20.69 m (CR/NR)2011European Indoor ChampionshipsParis, France8thShot put19.83 mEuropean Cup Winter ThrowingSofia, Bulgaria 2ndShot put20.18 mWorld ChampionshipsDaegu, South Korea6thShot put20.32 m2012World Indoor ChampionshipIstanbul, Turkey10th (q)Shot put19.83 mEuropean ChampionshipsHelsinki, Finland5thShot put20.24 mOlympic GamesLondon, United Kingdom15thShot put20.06 m2013European Indoor ChampionshipsGothenburg, Sweden5thShot put20.02 mWorld ChampionshipsMoscow, Russia16th (q)Shot put19.38 m2014World Indoor ChampionshipsSopot, Poland11th (q)Shot put20.12 mEuropean ChampionshipsZürich, Switzerland7thShot put20.35 m2016Ibero-American ChampionshipsRio de Janeiro, Brazil2ndShot put19.05 mEuropean ChampionshipsAmsterdam, Netherlands23rd (q)Shot put18.64 m
References
External links