Next week, on June 26-29, the battles of the first division of the European Team Championship will take place in Madrid (Spain). For the first time in history, the Lithuanian athletics team will start in the top division, which won a ticket to the elite two years ago in Chožuv (Poland). As many as 9 Lithuanian Olympians will meet the challenge posed by the grandees and fight against the most capable athletes of the Old Continent.

A total of 16 teams will compete in the strongest division: Italy, Poland, Germany, Spain, Great Britain, Netherlands, France, Portugal, Czech Republic, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Greece, Hungary, Ukraine, Lithuania. Lithuania miraculously climbed into the elite ranks in 2023, when it took third place in the second division and half a point ahead of the Slovenian national team. In the first division two years ago, the Italians triumphed, overtaking the hosts Poles and multiple champions Germans.

In the European Team Championships, the national teams collect points in 34 individual events, in addition, the 4×100 m men’s and women’s relays and the 4×400 m mixed relay start. One woman and one man each participate in each competition. The team whose representative takes the first place in the competition receives 16 points, 15 points are awarded for the second place, and then the points are reduced to one, respectively, which is received by the representative who took the 16th place.

The competition will start on June 26 with the pole vault competition, which will take place in the city of Madrid. Later, from June 27, the athletic competitions will move to the Vallehermoso Stadium, which has a capacity of 10 thousand. Viewers. The teams that took the last three places in the overall standings will be relegated to the second division, and their place will be taken by the first three teams of the second division.

The Lithuanian Athletics Federation presents the Lithuanian national team, which will soon start in Madrid:

100 m – Ema Rupšytė and Adas Dambrauskas;

200 m – Lukrecija Sabaitytė and Gediminas Truskauskas;

400 m – Modesta Justė Morauskaitė and Tomas Keršulis;

800 m – Gabija Galvydytė and Simas Bertašius;

1500 m – Gabija Galvydytė and Simas Bertašius;

5000 m – Vaida Žūsinaitė-Nekriošienė and Giedrius Valinčius;

100 m hurdles and 110 m hurdles – Beatričė Juškevičiūtė and Domas Gailevičius;

400 m hurdles – Ema Sarafinaitė and Lukas Šermukšnis;

3000 m hurdles – Auksė Linkutė and Lukas Tarasevičius;

High jump – Urtė Baikštytė and Juozas Baikštys;

Pole Jump – Rugilė Miklyčiūtė and Nikodemas Laurynas;

Long jump – Jogailė Petrokaitė and Algirdas Strelčiūnas;

Triple jump – Dovilė Kilty and Marius Vadeikis;

Ball pushing – Ieva Gumbs and Simonas Bakanas;

Javelin throw – Liveta Jasiūnaitė (team captain) and Edis Matusevičius;

Discus throw – Ieva Gumbs and Andrius Gudžius (team captain);

Hammer throw – Radha Kučinskaitė and Tomas Vasiliauskas;

4×100 m relay – Ema Rupšytė, Lukrecija Sabaitytė, Eva Misiūnaitė, Andrė Ožechauskaitė, Akvilė Jonauskytė and Adas Dambrauskas, Gediminas Truskauskas, Kostas Skrabulis, Kristupas Seikauskas, Aistis Manton, Tomas Keršulis;

4×400 m mixed relay – Modesta Justė Morauskaitė, Eva Aušraitė, Ema Sarafinaitė and Tomas Keršulis, Lukas Sutkus, Edvardas Aukštuolis.

Athletics coaches, physiotherapists and other staff members will also travel to Madrid with the team. In addition, the reserve includes athletes who will be able to join the main team if needed.

Olympic champions Femke Bol (Netherlands), Natalia Bukowiecka (Poland), Yaroslava Mahuchikh (Ukraine), Malaika Mihambo (Germany), Olympic champions Miltiadis Tentoglou (Greece), Marcellis Jacobs (Italy) and other international championship winners and prizewinners will compete in the same division with the Lithuanians.

The European Team Championship will be broadcast live on the Eurovision Sport portal.

 

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Photo by Alfredas Pliadis