On Saturday, the stadium in Tampere (Finland) was painted in Lithuanian colors, as track and field athlete Orinta Navikaitė won the bronze medal at the European Junior (U20) Championships. In the changeable javelin throw final, the Lithuanian threw the tool 54.36 m (48.08-52.95-51.42-53.39-51.26-54.36) and snatched the third place with the last throw.
O. Navikaitė, who recorded the second best result in her career, said that now the feeling is amazing, and when fighting in the final, every shot had to be done exactly: “I feel amazing. I believed in myself, I knew I could, and it happened. I’m proud of myself. I knew that 53 meters would not be enough for a medal, so I tried to do every throw as accurately as possible.”
The gold medal was won by Croatia’s Vita Barbic (55.26 m), the silver medal went to Finland’s Rebecca Nelimarkka (54.43 m), and the fourth remaining Turkish Rabiye Cicek (53.68 m) took first place for a long time. The results in the final are close, and the medal won is not surprising to the Lithuanian – she knew that she was ready to fight for it: “I told myself that I am ready and I can definitely fight for the medal. A lot of work has been done with coach Terese Nekrošaitė. We both believed and trusted each other a lot, so everything turned out spectacularly.”
O. Navikaitė, who had been in second place for some time, fell to the fourth position before the last attempt. Then a conversation with myself gave additional strength, which led to an improvement in the result and place: “Before the last attempt, I repeated to myself that I was a fighter. That’s what my first coach Ina Nagelė always used to say. I didn’t forget the current coach either, I said that I am working for her and for Lithuania.”
In 2022, the javelin thrower won bronze at the European Junior (U18) Championship, but, according to O. Navikaitė, it is the medal won today that is sweeter, and this championship is the best in his career. The athlete came to Tampere practically directly from the Lithuanian championships, where she won the silver medal a week ago. In addition, a little more than two weeks ago, the athlete triumphed at the Baltic Youth Championships, where she improved her personal record (55.02 m): “The 55-meter throw was like a miracle. Then I realized that I was really ready, and the support of my family contributed a lot to this result.”
In addition to the already listed achievements, O. Navikaitė triumphed in the Lithuanian Junior Championship this year and won victories or prize places in various international and national competitions. Appetite rises while eating, so although this season is great, even more can be achieved in the future.
“I am glad that I finally healed my shoulder injury and worked responsibly on the technique. There will always be something to improve, but persevering work has allowed us to shine with results. I believe that we can achieve a lot with the coach. I am writing a top ten for myself this year – I have fulfilled all my expectations,” said O. Navikaitė.
On Saturday, Joana Feodorovaitė also performed successfully at the European Junior Championship. The long jumper overcame the qualification barrier (6.02 m) and will compete in the final on Sunday at 18:55. The championship is broadcast live on the Eurovision Sport portal.
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Photo by Darius Kibirkščis.
