WRESTLERS from Portugal

Top 3

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Portuguese Wrestlers of all time. This list of famous Portuguese Wrestlers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity.

1. Nuno Delgado (b. 1976)

With an HPI of 43.49, Nuno Delgado is the most famous Portuguese Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages on wikipedia.

Nuno Miguel Delgado ComIH (born 27 August 1976) is a former Portuguese judoka who became known for winning Portugal's first Olympic medal in judo – a bronze in the under-81 kg category at the 2000 Summer Olympics, in Sydney, Australia. He was also senior European champion (Bratislava 1999).

2. Patrícia Sampaio (b. 1999)

With an HPI of 33.72, Patrícia Sampaio is the 2nd most famous Portuguese Wrestler.  Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Patrícia Fernandes Sampaio (born 30 June 1999) is a Portuguese judoka. In 2021, she competed in the women's 78 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, where she reached the Round of 16. In 2024, in the Paris Olympics, she won the bronze medal. Sampaio is the gold medalist of the 2019 Oceania Open Perth in the ‍–‍78 kg category. Sampaio won one of the bronze medals in her event at the 2022 Tel Aviv Grand Slam held in Tel Aviv, Israel. On 1 August 2024 Sampaio won a bronze medal in the ‍–‍78 kg category at the Paris Olympics. Sampaio had been eliminated in the semi-finals by the ranking leader in the category, Italy's Alice Bellandi—who would end up taking the gold in the competition. In the battle for the bronze, Patrícia defeated Japan's Rika Takayama with two waza-aris: the first at 1:10 (Osoto gaeshi) and the second, which would end up sealing her victory, at 3:05 (Seoi otoshi). This was the first medal for Portugal at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

3. Catarina Costa (b. 1996)

With an HPI of 29.08, Catarina Costa is the 3rd most famous Portuguese Wrestler.  Her biography has been translated into 13 different languages.

Catarina Martins de Mesquita Paiva Costa (born 21 September 1996) is a Portuguese judoka. She is the gold medallist of the 2019 Judo Grand Slam Brasilia and represented Portugal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. At the 2021 Judo Grand Slam Abu Dhabi held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, she won a bronze medal in the women's under-48kg kilogram category.