On Saturday, the first international event – the Cosma Indoor Cup athletics competition – took place at the President Valdas Adamkus Athletics Hall in Kaunas. Almost 150 athletes from 23 countries competed in the World Athletics Continental Tour competition, sharing 10 thousand euros. prize fund.
As many as half of the winners’ cups in the ten competitions were won by Lithuanian track and field athletes. In the women’s pole vaulting competition, 17-time national record holder Rugilė Miklyčiūtė triumphed, overcoming a height of 4 m 21 cm. After securing the title of the winner of the competition, the representative of the “Cosma” club tried to improve the Lithuanian record recorded last month and jump 4 m 41 cm. In one of the attempts, the Kaunas woman rose above this height, but she hit the bar by descending.
“There are a lot of people, it’s very nice that everyone came, so much gathered – more adrenaline. Of course, it was possible to achieve the Lithuanian record, but there was a lack of passage (descent after jump). There are many things that can be handled and if at least one mistake is fixed, those 4 m 41 cm or even more will definitely be moved,” said R. Miklyčiūtė.
The athlete was positively impressed by the Conica surface in the modern President Valdas Adamkus Arena, which is considered one of the best in the world.
“The surface is very comfortable, it feels very comfortable to run. There may be more competitions of such a high level in Kaunas, and with such a surface you can achieve very impressive results,” said R. Miklyčiūtė.
In the crowded arena, athletics fans saw the performances of three Lithuanian Olympians and national record holders. The women’s 400 m run was dramatically won by Modesta Justė Morauskaitė, who overtook the Moroccan Salma Lehlali by just 0.01 seconds. The result of the Lithuanian coached by Martas Skrabulis is 53.71 seconds.
“If I didn’t know that I was in Kaunas, I would think that I was abroad, in the best level gymnasium. The surface is brutally good, really fast, the turns are incredibly comfortable, you don’t have to think about how to run here, you don’t have to be afraid that your ankles will eventually break. It is very gratifying that we have such a level of infrastructure in Lithuania,” said M. J. Morauskaitė. “Today there was one goal – not to be afraid and to run the first 200 meters with courage, not to be afraid to run fast. Today’s mission has been accomplished, and then it is only a matter of work and time when that result will rise. I am very satisfied with this day.”
Tokyo Olympic Games participant Gediminas Truskauskas achieved the best result of the Lithuanian season in the 200 m race, running the distance in 21.44 seconds. and won third place. The winner was the Italian participant of the Paris Olympic Games Diego Aldo Petterossis, with a result of 21.30 seconds.
The third Lithuanian Olympian Diana Zagainova , who participated in the competition, managed to triumph in the triple jump: she achieved the best result of the country’s season, jumping 13 m 76 cm.
“I really enjoyed competing in Kaunas – both the atmosphere and the arena are fantastic, a lot of friends and family members. This is the third start of the season, but that journey towards the competition looked a little different than we expected. The preparation went super smoothly and the sports form is good, but the last 10 days did not go according to our plan. My last race raised questions for many people, because the result differs by one meter – I had some health problems. Everything is improving, I feel much better and I think that was evident today,” explained D. Zagainova.
Nike’s 60 m event was triumphed by three-time World Championship winner Taymir Burnet from the Netherlands, who ran the distance in 6.65 seconds. Among the women, the fastest was the sprinter of the “Cosma” club Ema Rupšytė, who covered the distance in 7.40 seconds.
In the men’s 400 m, the champion title was won by the Portuguese finalist of the 2024 European Championships Omar Marques Elkhatib (46.42 seconds), while in the women’s 200 m race the fastest was Finland’s Emma Tuulia Tainio (23.88 seconds). The men’s high jump event ended with a Lithuanian victory, which was won by Ignas Bitinas , who recorded the best result of the country’s season – 2 m 15 cm.
“Cosma Indoor Cup” is the first international athletics competition of this level in Lithuania, which was held indoors. World Athletics’ Continental Tour Cosma Cup competition took place for the first time in the country’s history in June last year, as well as in Kaunas, Darius and S. Girėnas Stadium.
Robertas Trakys (Sports Club “Cosma”)
Photo by Andrius Šimkus.
