Ribeiro started running with Grupo Desportivo do Kolossal, before joining FC Porto, which she represented from 1982-1992.

[citation needed] She has the record for most athletic medals won in Portugal, having participated in five summer Olympics (Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, and Athens 2004) and many more European and World Championships.

[2] She helped the Portuguese women's team win the title at the European Cup 10000 m in June 2010, rounding out the country's top runners with a seventh-place finish.

At the beginning of the last lap, Ribeiro was close behind the Chinese athlete Wang Junxia, world record holder and 5000 m Olympic champion.

In the last 200 meters accelerated, Ribeiro passed her opponent on the inside just as she entered the final straightaway.