 After contributing for three collective European cross-country titles and winning individual silver and bronze medals in other championships, she secured her first individual senior title with the 3000 metres gold medal at the 2013 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Gothenburg.At the 2016 European Athletics Championships, Moreira won her first major outdoor individual title by taking the gold medal in the debuting half marathon event.Born Sara Isabel Fonseca Moreira in Santo Tirso, Portugal, Moreira's first international athletics competition was the 2007 European Athletics U23 Championships, where she took the bronze medal in the steeplechase.