Portuguese European champions Afonso Costa and Patrícia Batista narrowly missed a medal at the World Beach Rowing Championships in Antalya, Turkey, finishing fourth in the mixed double scull event.
Their fourth-place finish came on Sunday after losing the bronze medal race, known as Final B, to France. The duo are reigning European champions in the mixed double scull category.
Costa and Batista began the final day of competition strongly, securing a victory in their quarter-final race. They completed the course in 2 minutes, 17.58 seconds.
This performance allowed them to defeat Tunisians Mohamed Hafsa and Khadija, who finished with a time of 2:21.61.
However, in the semi-finals, the Portuguese pair were outpaced by American competitors Christopher Bak and Sera Busse. The American team finished their race in 2:16.16, one second faster than Costa and Batista.
This result prevented the Portuguese duo from advancing to Final A, which would have placed them in contention for the gold medal.
In the subsequent bronze medal race, they faced French athletes Antoine Lefebvre and Chloe Briard. The French team claimed victory, finishing with a time of 2:19.96.
Costa and Batista completed Final B in 2:22.40, confirming their overall fourth-place position at the World Championships.
The world title for the mixed double scull was won by Lithuanians Dominykas Jancionis and Martyna Kazlauskaite. The American team of Bak and Busse secured the silver medal.