Ready, steady, go !!

Portugal

João José Silva Abranches Garcia, (born June 11, 1967, in Lisbon, Portugal) is a leading mountaineer in Portugal. His main professional activities are as organizer and guide in mountaineering expeditions. On May 18, 1999, he became the first Portuguese man to reach the summit of Mount Everest, without the use of supplementary oxygen. Three years later, in 2002, he published a book, "A mais alta solidão" (The highest loneliness), in which he describes his experiences in mountain climbing, namely his 1999 expedition to Everest, where he passed through bitter adversities. Nevertheless, João Garcia continued to climb and on the 17th April 2010 he summited without artificial oxygen, Annapurna the last eight-thousander, becoming the 10th man in all times to climb all 14 eight-thousander without bottled oxygen or Sherpas.

Eusébio da Silva Ferreira, commonly known simply as Eusébio, is a retired Portuguese football forward. He is considered one of the best footballers of all-time by the IFFHS, experts and fans. He helped the Portuguese national team reach third place at the 1966 World Cup, being the top goalscorer of the tournament with nine goals (six of which were scored at Goodison Park), becoming the first player to receive the honour after it was officially established, and elected the Bronze Ball player. He won the European Footballer of the Year award in 1965 and was runner-up in 1962 and 1966. He played for Benfica for 15 years out of his 22 years as a footballer, thus being manly associated with the Portuguese club, and is the team's all-time top scorer. There, he won the European Cup once and managed to help them reach three additional finals. He was the competition's top scorer on three occasions, in 1965, 1966 and 1968. He also won the Bota de Prata (Primeira Liga top scorer award) seven times, in 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970 and 1973, an unmatched feat. He was the first ever player to win the European Golden Boot award, in 1968, a feat he later replicated in 1973. Nicknamed The Black Panther, or The Black Pearl, or O Rei (The King) in Portugal, Eusébio scored 733 goals in 745 games in his career.

 

Telma Monteiro (born 27 December 1985) is a Portuguese judoka from the city of Almada. She is currently in the number two spot on the world ranking list. She is also a multi-time medal winner in both World and European Championships and Cups. She won silver medals in the last European and World Championships.