On Wednesday, two Lithuanians competed in the World Athletics Championships. Edis Matusevičius was the first to appear in the Tokyo Olympic Stadium. The Lithuanian, who participated in the fourth World Championship, took 13th place in the javelin throw qualification and remained close to the final.
The best of E. Matusevičius was the second attempt (82.78 m), the first javelin flew 79.73 m, and the third attempt was not counted. In the qualification group A, which started earlier, the athlete took the 7th position and was waiting for the results of group B. They were not thankful, because the opponents pushed the Lithuanian to the 13th position in the final lineup.
12 javelin throwers made it to the final. 7 of them fulfilled the qualification norm (84.50 m), while the other 5 won a ticket to the final competition with the result. The last place in the final was taken by Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage. All 3 throws of this athlete were stable (82.44-82.27-82.80), and the last one that closed the door to the final for the Lithuanian became fatal.
“I wanted more. The second result this season, I’m quite satisfied, but I want more all the time. I think this result will not be enough [for the final]. I think we needed at least 83 meters, because the second group is also very strong. Since there are more participants this year, the results are also rising. I’ll go and watch, I hope, but I needed 83 meters, and then maybe it would be a little calmer,” E. Matusevičius said prophetically after his qualification.
This year, the athlete’s javelin flew the farthest in mid-July in Lucerne (Switzerland) – 84.05 m. E. Matusevičius set a career record, and at the same time the Lithuanian record, in 2019 in Palanga (89.17 m). In June, the athlete won the third place in the top division of the European Team Championship, and in August he became the Lithuanian champion.
In three competitions this year, the spear launched by E. Matusevičius flew further than 80 meters, and in six did not reach the 80-meter mark. According to the athlete, the preparation and the whole season were not easy, because the leg was always put in various pains, which are characteristic of this competition: “This season somehow I can’t make the end of the throw. It seems that as I begin, so do I. There is no completion. The second attempt seemed to succeed, but there was still a complete completion missing – perfection is still far away.
In May, I couldn’t even throw 70 meters because of all the injuries. I was already thinking about writing off that season, skipping and curing all the problems, but little by little I got into it and it worked quite well. I know why [injuries occur]. That’s the competition. She’s not healthy. Here is the javelin throw – high speed, sudden movement. One move is wrong and can immediately get an injury.”
E. Matusevičius, who made his debut at the World Championships in London (Great Britain) in 2017, did not record a result, in 2019 he took 22nd place in Doha (Qatar), and in 2023 he won 8th position in Budapest (Hungary).
The javelin thrower, who has accumulated experience in the highest ranking championships, spoke about the calmness and support of the team, whose shouts he heard when he was in the sector: “I had no excitement. I went to that sector and I knew that I had been here more than once. It seems that there is nothing to worry about? I’ve been doing the same thing for years. Maybe the experience finally felt, because I felt calm in the sector. Together there was the largest support team – Urtė [Baikštytė], dad [Edmuntas Matusevičius], Juozas [Baikštys]. I had a lot of fun because I felt support and I could hear them shouting.”
Before the World Championships, the former athlete at an acclimatization camp in Japan said that it helped to cope with the heat. The Lithuanian who has finished the season will continue his stay in Japan, and in the javelin throw final, which will take place on Thursday, he considers the German Julian Weber the favorite: “The German is the absolute leader this year, we saw that in the qualification as well. I think the German should definitely win a medal. I have doubts about Neeraj Chopra (he became world champion in 2023 – author’s note) this year.”
It was not the first time that the javelin thrower started at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium, as the Olympic Games were held here in 2021, in which E. Matusevičius participated. When asked to compare today’s competition with the Olympic Games, the athlete emphasized the abundance of spectators and the atmosphere, which was not there four years ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year’s Paris Olympics were not successful for the Lithuanian, as he failed to make it to the final: “I was expecting a final there, so after the Olympic Games it was maybe a bit of a psychological decline. It was difficult to recover. It’s harder this year, but it’s definitely going to be much better next season, because I want to and I know I can.”
Lithuania is represented by 11 track and field athletes at the World Championships. The Planet Championships in the Far East take place on September 13-21, and the competition is broadcast live by LRT and the portal Eurovision Sport.
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Photo by Alfredas Pliadis
