Sporting Secures National Cross-Country Championship

Mid-distance runner josé Carlos Pinto, national cross-country champion and 5 km record holder, will represent Sporting in 2026, the lions announced this Saturday.

«It’s fantastic. Sporting was a great promoter of athletics from the beginning, it had big names running for the club, and it’s unbelievable to be able to continue that legacy. It’s an inexplicable feeling», said José Carlos Pinto, 28 years old, to the green and white press.

«In the short term we already have the European Cross-Country Cup of European Champion Clubs, and my objective is to help the club win this competition, in the mixed relay. After that, we have the National Club Championships. Individually, I want to try, in about ten days, to beat the national 10 km road record. I have now achieved the national record for the 5 km, so I believe I am in good shape.In the long term, of course, are the 2028 Olympic Games [Los Angeles] and help the club in as many competitions as possible and collect as many points as possible”, declared Pinto about the objectives he sets out to achieve.