Portugal competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States.
A delegation with a record number of 107 competitors (83 men and 24 women) participated in 79 events in 18 sports. Two medals were won this time, one of them being Portugal's third Olympic gold, thanks to Fernanda Ribeiro's surprising victory in the women's 10000m over the 5000m Olympic champion Wang Junxia. This third Olympic title in the athletics reinforced Portugal's strength in this sport and in particular the long-distance endurance events. A bronze was achieved by the 470 class male team, reviving a successful sailing tradition in this nation's Olympic delegations.
In Atlanta, Portugal debuted in cycling, women's sailing classes, slalom canoeing and in newly promoted beach volleyball, almost grabbing a bronze medal in the latter, on its first participation. In their second appearance, the tennis male team succumbed yet again on the first round to a Bahamian team. After 68 years, Portugal sent a football team to the Olympics and, in the end, it repeated Amsterdam's fourth place.
Fernanda Ribeiro — Athletics, Women's 10000m.Hugo Rocha and Nuno Barreto — Sailing, Men's 470.Men's Individual Competition:
Nuno PomboRanking round — 650 pts (→ 35th)Elimination rounds — 148 pts (→ 58th)1/32 finals — Pawel Szymczak (POL) (→ lost by 152-148, did not advance)100m:
Luís CunhaRound 1 (heat 1) — 10.65 (→ 6th, did not advance)800m:
António AbrantesRound 1 (heat 5) — 1:47.73 (→ 5th, did not advance)1500m:
António TravassosRound 1 (heat 3) — 3:42.01 (→ 10th, did not advance)Luís FeiteiraRound 1 (heat 4) — 3:38.09 (→ 5th, advanced as 4th fastest loser)Semi-final 1 — 3:40.31 (→ 11th, did not advance)Luís JesusRound 1 (heat 2) — 3:44.65 (→ 7th, did not advance)5000m:
José RamosRound 1 (heat 1) — 14:17.26 (→ 8th)Semi-final 1 — 14:24.81 (→ 15th, did not advance)Luís JesusRound 1 (heat 3) — 14:08.87 (→ 11th, advanced as 9th fastest loser)Semi-final 2 — did not start10000m:
Alfredo BrazRound 1 (heat 2) — 28:50.58 (→ 14th, did not advance)Carlos PatrícioRound 1 (heat 1) — 29:15.41 (→ 15th, did not advance)Paulo GuerraRound 1 (heat 2) — did not finishMarathon:
António Pinto — 2:16:41 (→ 14th)Domingos Castro — 2:18:03 (→ 25th)Manuel Matias — 2:20:58 (→ 46th)20 km Walk:
José Urbano — 1:25:32 (→ 31st)50 km Walk:
José Magalhães — 4:27:37 (→ 36th)400m Hurdles:
Carlos SilvaRound 1 (heat 2) — 49.09s (→ 3rd, did not advance)3000m Steeplechase:
Eduardo HenriquesRound 1 (heat 1) — 8:35.58 (→ 8th, did not advance)Vitor AlmeidaRound 1 (heat 2) — 8:48.16 (→ 11th, did not advance)Long Jump:
Carlos CaladoQualifying round (Group A) — 7,81 (→ 12th, did not advance)Pole Vault:
Nuno FernandesQualifying round (Group A) — 5,60 (→ 10th, did not advance)Triple Jump:
Carlos CaladoQualifying round (Group A) — 16,65 (→ 10th, did not advance)100m:
Lucrécia JardimRound 1 (heat 6) — 11.32 (→ 3rd)Round 2 (heat 2) — 11.37 (→ 4th)Semi-final 2 — 11.32 (→ 8th, did not advance)200m:
Lucrécia JardimRound 1 (heat 2) — 22.95 (→ 3rd)Round 2 (heat 3) — 22.98 (→ 5th, did not advance)800m:
Eduarda CoelhoRound 1 (heat 2) — 2:03.22 (→ 5th, did not advance)1500m:
Carla SacramentoRound 1 (heat 2) — 4:13.57 (→ 3rd)Semi-final 2 — 4:06.70 (→ 5th)Final — 4:03.91 (→ 6th)5000m:
Ana DiasRound 1 (heat 2) — 15:57.35 (→ 11th, did not advance)10000m:
Conceição FerreiraRound 1 (heat 1) — 33:40.76 (→ 14th, did not advance)Fernanda RibeiroRound 1 (heat 2) — 31:36.32 (→ 3rd)Final — 31:01.63 OR (→ Gold Medal)Marathon:
Manuela Machado — 2:31:11 (→ 7th)Albertina Dias — 2:26:39 (→ 27th)Albertina Machado — 2:43:44 → (47th)10 km Walk:
Susana Feitor — 44:24 (→ 13th)Discus Throw:
Teresa MachadoQualifying round (Group A) — 62,02 (→ 5th)Final — 61,38 (→ 10th)Shot Put:
Teresa MachadoQualifying round (Group A) — 15,91 (→ 12th, did not advance)Men's Competition:
João Brenha and Miguel Maia — 4thRound 1 — Michel Everaert and Sander Mulder (NED) (→ won by 15-8)Round 2 — Carl Henkel and Sinjin Smith (USA) (→ lost by 15-7)17th place round — Javier Yuste Muniz and Miguel Angel Martin Prieto (ESP) (→ won by 15-8)13th place round — Eduardo Esteban Martinez and Martin Alejo Conde (ARG) (→ won by 15-5)9th place round — Emanuel Rego and José Marco de Melo Ferreira (BRA) (→ won by 15-12)7th place round — Björn Maaseide and Jan Kvalheim (NOR) (→ won by 15-3)5th place round — Carl Henkel and Sinjin Smith (USA) (→ won by 15-13)Semi-finals — Mike Dodd and Mike Whitmarsh (USA) (→ lost by 15-13)Bronze medal match — John Child and Mark Heese (CAN) (→ lost by 12-5, 12-8)MenMen's Road Race:
Cândido Barbosa — 5:01:29 (→ 112th)José Azevedo — did not finishNuno Marta — 4:56:49 (→ 78th)Orlando Rodrigues — 4:56:45 (→ 39th)Pedro Lopes — 4:56:45 (→ 48th)Women's Road Race:
Ana Barros — 2:37:06 (→ 23rd)Individual Jumping:
António VozoneQualifying round — 13.75 penalty pts (→ 69th)Miguel LealQualifying round — 12.00 penalty pts (→ 59th)One male fencer represented Portugal in 1996.
Men's épéeNuno FrazãoRound A — Vitally Zakharov (BLR) (→ lost by 15-11, did not advance)Men's Competition:
Afonso Martins, Litos, Dani, Kenedy, Emílio Peixe, Hugo Porfírio, José Dominguez, Calado, José Vidigal, Andrade, Nuno Afonso, Nuno Gomes, Nuno Espírito Santo, Paulo Alves, Costinha, Beto, Rui Bento and Rui Jorge — 4thGroup stage (A) — 5 pts (→ 2nd, 1 scored goal less than Argentina)July 20 | Washington D.C. — Tunisia (→ won by 2-0; goals by: Afonso Agra)July 22 | Washington D.C. — Argentina (→ draw 1-1; goals by: Nuno Ribeiro)July 24 | Washington D.C. — United States (→ draw 1-1; goals by: Paulo Alves)Quarter-finalsJuly 27 | Miami, Florida — France (→ won by 2-1; goals by: Nuno Rocha, José Silva)Semi-finalsJuly 30 | Athens, Georgia — Argentina (→ lost by 2-0)Bronze medal matchAugust 2 | Athens, Georgia — Brazil (→ lost by 5-0)Women's Individual All-Round Competition:
Diana Teixeira — 72.609 pts (→ 66th)Men's Extra Lightweight (–60 kg):
Pedro CaravanaPool A
Round 1 — Ewan Beaton (CAN) (→ won by waza-ari)Round 2 — Nigel Donohue (GBR) (→ lost by ippon)Men's Half Lightweight (–65 kg):
Michel AlmeidaPool A
Round 1 — Jose Perez (PUR) (→ won by ippon)Round 2 — Francesco Giorgi (ITA) (→ won by koka)Round 3 — Taro Tan (CAN) (→ won by yuko)1/4 finals — Udo Quellmalz (GER) (→ lost by ippon)Repêchage A
Round 1 — ByeRound 2 — ByeRound 3 — Israel Hernández Plana (CUB) (→ lost by ippon, did not advance)Men's Lightweight (–71 kg):
Guilherme BentesPool A
Round 1 — ByeRound 2 — Loris Mularoni (SMR) (→ won by ippon)Round 3 — Vladimeri Dgebuadze (GEO) (→ lost by yusei-gachi, did not advance)Men's Half Heavyweight (–95 kg):
Pedro SoaresPool A
Round 1 — ByeRound 2 — Detlef Knorrek (GER) (→ won by ippon)Round 3 — A. Sanchez Armentero (CUB) (→ won by ippon)1/4 finals — Pawel Nastula (POL) (→ lost by ippon)Repêchage A
Round 1 — ByeRound 2 — ByeRound 3 — Antal Kovács (HUN) (→ lost by shido, did not advance)Women's Lightweight (–56 kg):
Filipa CavalleriPool B
Round 1 — ByeRound 2 — Ai-Chun Huang (TPE) (→ lost by yusei-gachi)Men's Individual Competition:
Manuel Barroso — 5246 pts (→ 19th)Men's Lightweight Coxless Four:
Henrique Baixinho, João Fernandes, Manuel Fernandes (stern) and Samuel Aguiar (bow)Round 1 (heat 2) — 7:37.13 (→ 6th)Repêchage 3 — 6:15.82 (→ 5th)Final C — 6:27.07 (→ 3rd, 15th overall)Finn:
Vasco Batista — 129 pts (→ 22nd)Mistral:
João Rodrigues — 42 pts (→ 7th)470:
Hugo Rocha (skipper) and Nuno Barreto — 62 pts (→ Bronze Medal)Europe:
Joana Pratas — 209 pts (→ 25th)Mistral:
Catarina Fagundes — 133 pts (→ 21st)Laser:
Vasco Serpa — 74 pts (→ 7th)Star:
Diogo Cayolla and Raul Costa — 129 pts(→ 21st)Men's Trap:
João RebeloPreliminary round — 120 hits (→ 13th, did not advance)Manuel VieiraPreliminary round — 122 hits (→ 5th, did not advance)Women's 10m Air Rifle:
Carla RibeiroPreliminary round — 375hits (→ 48th, did not advance)Sara AntunesPreliminary round — 377 hits (→ 47th, did not advance)Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions:
Carla RibeiroPreliminary round — 568 hits (→ 32nd, did not advance)Sara AntunesPreliminary round — 571 hits (→ 29th, did not advance)50m Freestyle:
Paulo TrindadeHeats (heat 5) — 23.73 (→ 5th, did not advance – 41st overall)1500m Freestyle:
Pedro FerreiraHeats (heat 2) — 16:34.55 (→ 7th, did not advance)100m Backstroke:
Nuno LaurentinoHeats (heat 4) — 57.59 (→ 7th, did not advance – 31st overall)200m Backstroke:
Nuno LaurentinoHeats (heat 3) — 2:05.95 (→ 7th, did not advance – 29th overall)200m Breaststroke:
José CoutoHeats (heat 2) — 2:17.28 (→ 2nd, did not advance – 18th overall)200m Butterfly:
Diogo MadeiraHeats (heat 3) — 2:01.58 (→ 3rd, did not advance – 25th overall)4×100m Medley Relay:
José Couto, Miguel Cabrita, Miguel Machado and Nuno LaurentinoHeats (heat 4) — disqualified200m Freestyle:
Ana AlegriaHeats (heat 3) — 2:05.16 (→ 4th, did not advance – 29th overall)400m Freestyle:
Ana AlegriaHeats (heat 2) — 4:27.19 (→ 8th, did not advance)100m Backstroke:
Maria SantosHeats (heat 5) — 1:04.84 (→ 8th, did not advance – 22nd overall)200m Backstroke:
Petra ChavesHeats (heat 2) — 2:20.49 (→ 3rd, did not advance – 26th overall)200m Breaststroke:
Joana SoutinhoHeats (heat 2) — 1:13.73 (→ 3rd, did not advance – 34th overall)100m Butterfly:
Ana FranciscoHeats (heat 2) — 1:02.98 (→ 1st, did not advance – 26th overall)200m Butterfly:
Ana FranciscoHeats (heat 3) — 2:17.61 (→ 7th, did not advance)200m Individual Medley:
Petra ChavesHeats (heat 2) — 2:22.03 (→ 3rd, did not advance – 33rd overall)4×100m Medley Relay:
Ana Alegria, Ana Francisco, Joana Soutinho and Maria SantosHeats (heat 3) — 4:21.61 (→ 7th, did not advance – 21st overall)Men's Doubles Competition:
Bernardo Mota and Emanuel CoutoRound 1 — Mark Knowles and Roger Smith (BAH) (→ lost by 7-6, 7-6 – did not advance)Men's Bantamweight (–59 kg):
Nuno AlvesGroup B — 237,5 kg (→ 14th)
Men's Greco-Roman Bantamweight (–57 kg):
David MaiaRound 1 — Luis Sarmiento Hernández (CUB) (→ lost by 5-0)Round 2 — Armando Fernández (MEX) (→ lost by 7-3, did not advance)Vítor Fonseca da Mota (chief of mission)Avelino Corbal Simões Azevedo (beach volleyball)Nelo Vingada (football coach)Agostinho Oliveira (football coach) 
