On Sunday, the second day of the Lithuanian Athletics Championships took place in the new arena of Kaunas President Valdas Adamkus. Gabija Galvydytė, who usually competes across the Atlantic, shone the brightest – she improved the third national record this year, and at the same time fulfilled another norm for the World Indoor Championships. The audience was also given a lot of emotions by the confrontation between Simas Bertašius and Giedrius Valinčius and the unexpected amplification of Rugilė Miklyčiūtė.
World-class running
As expected, the runner G. Galvydytė, who lives and trains in Oregon (USA), performed most impressively – an unparalleled athlete completed the 800 m in 2 minutes 00.89 seconds and 0.08 seconds. improved the Lithuanian record from last year. This is already the third national record improved by Gabija this winter. In January, the athlete entered the annals of athletics in the 1000 and 1500 m distances.
At the same time, the athlete fulfilled the norm of the World Indoor Championships to be held in Toruń (Poland) on Sunday (2 minutes 00.90 seconds). In January, the runner secured a place in these championships in the 1500 m distance, but due to the intense schedule of the championship, she will most likely have to choose one race. “I really wanted to have the opportunity to choose and I am very happy that I have it. It would probably be difficult to start in both races, so we will consult with the coach. It’s hard to say which distance I’ll run yet, but I’m very happy about it,” said the multiple Lithuanian record holder, champion, participant of the Paris Olympic Games after the finish.
She added that being at home also helped to achieve the result. “You may have noticed that whenever I come home, I run fast. When relatives, friends, spectators gather – it really motivates,” the athlete said about the atmosphere in Kaunas. Immediately after the Lithuanian championship, she and coach Justin Beržanskis will go to a training camp in Portugal, and from there – directly to the world championships in Poland.
They watched with bated breath
Athletics fans gathered in the temporary capital emotionally supported not only G. Galvydytė’s run – no less passions boiled in the men’s 3000 m run. There, multiple Lithuanian record holders G. Valinčius and S. Bertašius fought fiercely until the finish line. The latter managed to snatch the victory – he covered the distance in 7 minutes 57.81 seconds. On the eve of the event, S. Bertašius also triumphed in the 1500 m run. After this weekend, the athlete has already won 42 titles of the Lithuanian champion (22 indoors and 20 in the stadium). When asked how he evaluates the last starts, the runner did not hide his smile.
“I’m really happy. Although we failed to attempt another Lithuanian record, we gave a lot of emotions to the assembled spectators. In general, I assess the winter season very well, I felt a lot of progress, I hope that it will be even bigger in the summer,” S. Bertašius summed up the championship weekend and the winter season.
On Sunday, the pole vaulter R. Miklyčiūtė also shone. True, she surprised the audience the most not in her main event, where she overcame 4.26 m and won gold, but in the 4 x 400 m mixed relay. The young athletics star led the Kaunas team (Domantas Dobrega, Reda Teteriukovė, Nedas Talalas) to victory. “I like to run. I used to be a runner, we still have that run left in my heart, so we have gathered a pretty good Kaunas team and we’ll see,” the pole vaulter said before the start, probably without knowing how well she would perform (3 min. 34.67 sec.).
The second day of the Lithuanian championship was full of more resounding victories. In the women’s 200 m race, Lukrecija Sabaitytė triumphed for the third time in a row (24.00 seconds), and in the men’s distance, the gold medal was won by Edvardas Aukštuolis (21.85 seconds).
The women’s 60 m hurdles race was won by Gabija Klimukaitė (8.27 seconds). She demonstrated her personal record, the best result of the Lithuanian season and won the championship for the fourth time in a row. In a similar men’s event, Domas Gailevičius triumphed (8.22 seconds).
Diana Zagainova (13.64 m) was the best performer in the women’s triple jump – this is already her fifth gold medal. In the men’s triple jump sector, Rimvydas Augys performed best – 15.27 m (personal record and best result of the Lithuanian season).
In the women’s 3000 m distance, the title of champion was defended for the third time in a row by Auksė Linkutė (9 min. 43.76 sec.). In the men’s 800 m distance, the champion was Džiugas Balčiūnas, who finished in 1 minute 54.62 seconds. This is a personal record and the best result of the season in Lithuania. The champion in the men’s pole vault event was Simonas Gansiniauskas, who overcame a height of 4.76 m (a personal record).
Photo by Alfredas Pliadis
