On Friday, Marta Freitas lived her dream and represented her native country of Portugal in the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics.
Freitas competed in the women’s 1500m race, an event in which she won a national championship at Mississippi State last June. With a time of 4:18.53 Friday night, her Olympic journey ends just shy of the semifinal round.
Freitas qualified for the Olympic games in July, finishing second at the Campionats de Catalunya in Barcelona with a school-record time of 4:06.54. She also won an SEC crown earlier this year in the same event with a time of 4:24.