On Thursday, the European U23 Athletics Championships began in Bergen (Norway), with 18 representatives of Lithuania participating. In the morning session of the first day of the competition, 6 Lithuanians started, who finished their individual performances in the championship after the qualification stage. The highest place among our team has been won so far by sprinter Ema Rupšytė.

19-year-old E. Rupšytė covered the 100 m distance in 11.70 seconds. and finished fourth in his run. After all the qualifying runs, the result of the Lithuanian was 18th, and 16 participants made it to the semi-finals. The result of the last sprinter to enter was 11.63 seconds.

“Based on the results of the participants’ season and career, I didn’t expect to run fourth. Probably good weather conditions helped. Of course, we wanted better, but the result is not sad. The goal was to get to the semi-finals,” said E. Rupšytė after the match.

On June 27 in Madrid (Spain), in the top division of the European Team Championships, the athlete set a personal record in the 100 m race (11.65 seconds). According to the athlete, that performance gave her additional confidence, and there will be an opportunity to return to the European U23 Championships in two years: “The start in Madrid gave me confidence, and I came here to run with my own or similar age girls. It’s nice to have good competition. I will try to get into this championship again in two years, or maybe I will be able to make it to the final.”

Lukas Sutkus, who started in the 400 m qualifier, covered the distance in 47.28 seconds. and remained 8th in his run. Among all the participants, the Lithuanian demonstrated the 24th time, and 16 sprinters won the right to start in the semi-finals. The result of the last participant was 46.71 seconds.

The 21-year-old Sutkus set a personal record in 2023 (46.36 seconds), and this season he ran the fastest last weekend (47.05 seconds).

“Not my run. I am very dissatisfied with the result, I expected more from myself. The second half seemed very heavy, I didn’t have any energy in my legs anymore. After a relatively better start in the last race, I felt much better and I hoped that I could squeeze out an even better result. However, I remain disappointed in myself. There will be everything, but you don’t have to hang your nose, because that’s what sport is. I will try to continue to pursue my goals,” said L. Sutkus.

Nikodemas Laurynas, who competed in the European Championships for the first time, appeared in the pole vault qualification. Here the athlete overcame a height of 5.00 m, took 21st place and did not make it to the final. 12 participants will compete in the final, and the ticket to this stage was opened by a result of 5.30 m.

“The warm-up went very well, I felt great. The starting height (5.00 m) was overcome on the first attempt, and then I didn’t understand why it was, but when I jumped 5.15 m, my legs just softened and there was no activity. This was the first time it happened. The final result is not good, but I am not disappointed,” said N. Laurynas.

The 21-year-old pole vaulter fulfilled the European Championship norm on the last day of qualification, when he set a new personal record (5.25 m). According to N. Laurynas, in that competition, the athlete felt that he could dance even higher, and he tried to treat this championship as a simple competition: “When I jumped 5.25 m in Latvia, I knew that I could also jump 5.40 m. I thought that it would be possible to get to the final in the championship, but everything had to fall apart successfully. I’m glad I’m here. Really great competition and conditions.”

Ema Sarafinaitė, who started in the 400 m qualifier, took 6th place in her run and covered the distance in 54.73 seconds. Among all participants, the time of the 21-year-old Lithuanian was 21st, and 16 sprinters made it to the semi-finals. The result of the last entrant was 53.84 seconds.

“Before the run, the feeling was good, I felt ready. I could have run a little more boldly at the beginning and the result would have been better. The impressions are very good. I think I was a bit scared of the results of my opponents and couldn’t find my rhythm. The plan was to improve my personal record because I had good competition and conditions. The weather was unexpectedly good, which was suitable for the competition,” said E. Sarafinaitė.

The sprinter, who competed in the U20 World U20 and European U20 Championships in the past, improved both the personal record of the 200 m race (24.28 seconds) and the 400 m career result (54.24 seconds) this year. The athlete, who will start in the Lithuanian championships in two weeks’ time, spoke about progress and the change in the main event: “Work has been put in, the result is not out of nowhere. The speed increased, which was evident in both the 200 m and 400 m races. During all these years, I have not tamed the 400 m barrier run in any way. It was very difficult to find the rhythm between the barriers and hit. I also learned to dance with the other leg, but they didn’t stick to me in any way, even though they brought a lot of opportunities. I feel more confident in the 400 m race.”

Andrė Ožechauskaitė, who was the first of the Lithuanians to start on Thursday, covered the 100 m distance (12.13 seconds), recorded the 7th result in her qualification run, and took the 26th position among all participants.

“It went badly, I am disappointed in myself. Everything went well during training, it seems that I was ready. I don’t know if the lack of competition could have contributed here… It seems that there was no excitement, I wanted to enjoy the competition and be happy to be here. I don’t know what happened. Although I felt ready, the result does not show it,” the 21-year-old sprinter regretted after the finish.

The track and field athlete, who has gained experience in the U20 World U20 and European U20 Championships, hoped to improve her personal record (11.68 seconds) or the best result of the season (11.74 seconds, and 11.90 seconds with the permissible wind): “The goal was to show the result of the season or career, but it doesn’t always work. After setting a personal best last summer, I had to recover from a fracture for half a year because I broke my leg at the end of the summer. I had serious rehabilitation and only in the spring I started to prepare normally for competitions. Since I am experienced, there is no excitement anymore, and when I am in such championships, butterflies always fly in my belly.”

A. Ožechauskaitė has not finished her performance in the Old Continent Championship yet, as she is expected to start with other Lithuanians in the 4×100 m relay on Sunday. The sprinter is also motivated ahead of the upcoming Lithuanian Championships: “I’m looking forward to that relay, because it’s one of the most fun races with the most emotions. We came to enjoy it, so I am glad that we will have such an opportunity and try to use it. In the Lithuanian championship, there is no lack of motivation to show a better result and get on the podium.”

The European U23 Championship is broadcast live on the Eurovision Sport portal. The competition in Bergen will take place until Monday.

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Photo by Alfredas Pliadis