Before winning the gold medal at the European Championships in Guimarães, held between April 3 and 7, the 27-year-old from Vila do Conde qualified with the best Portuguese classification for the final of the 2023 World Championships, in which he came seventh, behind another Portuguese athlete, the fourth-placed Gabriel Albuquerque, selected for the Games in March, according to a qualification ranking defined by the Portuguese Gymnastics Federation.

"In all the other Olympic cycles since 2000, I would have gone to the Games with Gabriel. Not this year. Obviously, I'm sad. I'm not going to say that it's not one of my biggest dreams to go to the Olympic Games. It's one of the most important things, but I'm not going to let that define my career," the Sporting gymnast told Lusa.

After the qualification for Rio2016 did not "go well" and the following Olympic cycle brought him closer to Tokyo2020, with the place being filled by his friend and club colleague Diogo Abreu, Pedro Ferreira contributed to the unprecedented feat of two Portuguese athletes in the final of a World Championship, a circumstance that, in previous Games, would have guaranteed two places. However, the rules have changed, with the quota being occupied, "and rightly so", by his 17-year-old colleague.

"In Portugal, we defined an internal qualification ranking, based on the World Cups and the World Championship. This was done through points. Gabriel finished ahead of me. That place achieved by me, and also by him, went to him, and rightly so," he stressed, clarifying that only China secured two places, one for the World Championship final and another for reaching one of the first three places in the World Cup ranking.

Despite considering it likely that "someone will be wronged" in each Olympic qualification, given the 16 places available for the Games, Pedro Ferreira became aware in the previous cycle to Tokyo that it can "be a mistake" to nurture an "unrealistic ambition" for the Games.

Aware that trampoline is one of the few disciplines where champions can miss the Olympic competition, the Portuguese gymnast warns of cases of athletes who "have had a very bad time or have had to end their careers" due to situations of frustration, something he rejects.

"I feel that, in our sport, becoming too obsessed with the Olympic Games can damage a career that can be very happy. Looking back without the Olympic Games and thinking that it's not worth it is the wrong way of thinking," he argues.

With a curriculum that also includes the bronze medal at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in the Chinese city of Nanjing, and the three medals at the 2022 World Championships in Sofia, including a gold medal for teams, Pedro Ferreira says he has fulfilled "the dream of being among the best in the world", something he has cherished since he was a child.

Born into a family connected to gymnastics, Pedro Ferreira started jumping on the trampoline at the age of eight, at Ginásio Clube Vilacondense, and moved to Lisbon at the age of 18, the only city that then offered a degree in aerospace engineering, which he hopes to complete this year, as a "plan B" for the trampoline, a career that he has always prioritised.

Linked to Sporting since 2015, the club where he trained with Diogo Ganchinho and trains with Diogo Abreu, Pedro Ferreira likes to train and compete, is pleased with the way "life is structured" and feels that he has raised his level every year, something that gives him the confidence to face one or two more Olympic cycles.

"I will definitely complete the next Olympic cycle [for Los Angeles2028]. The other one, if I feel healthy, without any problems, I see no reason not to do it," he says.

The Paris2024 Olympic Games will take place between July 26 and August 11, with Wednesday marking 100 days to go until the opening ceremony.