After drowning in rain on Friday, Palanga received sunshine on Saturday, and with it a new national record. On the second day of the Lithuanian Athletics Federation (LLAF) Cup and Sports Club Team Competitions, the cherry on the cake was the men’s 4×400 m relay run, and one of the best discus throws in the country Andrius Gudžius also performed a fantastic throw.
Goal achieved
The national team of the capital’s sports club “Cosma” – Gediminas Truskauskas, Lukas Šermukšnis, Edvardas Aukštuolis and Lukas Sutkus – covered the distance in 3 minutes 8.75 seconds. This is almost a second faster than the record for this event reached in 2023 (3 minutes 9.65 seconds). By the way, both three years ago and now, L. Sutkus was in the top four. When asked which victory is sweeter, the runner does not mince words. “I’m not going to lie, this time it hurt more, but the joy is also greater,” says L. Sutkus.
Olympian G. Truskauskas shares a slightly different experience. He is used to competing in half the shorter distance – 200 m, where he also holds the Lithuanian record (20.48 seconds), so running 400 m has become a new challenge. “It is a wonderful feeling that we have managed to achieve our goals. One of them was to start the relay, run first, and the maximum goal was to improve the Lithuanian record at the first start. It’s very nice that it worked. And the distance itself really felt longer, and the feeling was harder. At the same time, it’s cool, because the emotions are super good,” smiles the multiple Lithuanian champion.
All four new record holders train with the Lithuanian sprint race chief Coach Martas Skrabulis, and for the summer season, together with several dozen other athletes of the country, they prepared at a training camp in Cyprus. It was there that the ambitious record goal was set – the runners say they chanted the slogan “National record” after training.
Without competition
Another highlight of the competition in Palanga was the impressive performance of discus thrower A. Gudžius . The experienced athlete threw 67.73 m in the second attempt, overtook his nearest opponent by almost 14 meters and won the 11th LLAF Cup in his career. For the first time, A. Gudis managed to win this trophy back in 2009. By the way, in the competition held in Kaunas just a week ago, the athlete fulfilled the norm of the European Athletics Championships to be held in Birmingham in August. This will be the seventh championship of the Old Continent in a row for him.
A much more intense fight took place in the women’s triple jump event. There, the three leaders changed with almost every jump, and finally the victory was snatched by Aina Grikšaitė, who flew 13.55 m in her last attempt. Diana Zagainova , who remained in second place, jumped 13.36 m, and Aurėja Beniušytė was third with 12.86 m.
Other winners of the second day of the LLAF Cup competition:
Men.
200 m . G. Truskauskas – 20.75 sec. (the best result of the season in Lithuania, the record of the LLAF Cup competition was repeated);
800 m. Miroslav Zniščinskij – 1 min. 56.08 sec. (the best result of the season in Lithuania);
3000 m. Robertas Vališauskas – 8 min. 30.47 sec. (the best result of the season in Lithuania, personal record);
400 m b/b. Denas Kupčaloitis – 56.40 sec. (personal best);
Kartis. Jonas Venckūnas – 4.10 m.
Triple jump. Rimvydas Augys – 15.01 years (the best result of the Lithuanian season);
Ball. Simonas Bakanas – 16.85 years old (the best result of the Lithuanian season).
Women.
200 m. Lukrecija Sabaitytė – 23.55 seconds. (the best result of the season in Lithuania);
800 m. Eglė Vaitulevičiūtė – 2 min. 12.65 sec.;
3000 m. Karolina Vaitkevičiūtė – 10 min. 48.23 sec.;
400 m b/b. Ugnė Noreikaitė – 1 min. 02.14 sec. (the best result of the season in Lithuania, personal record);
Kartis. Kamilė Petrauskaitė – 3.30 m;
Ball. Eglė Baranauskienė – 12.28 years;
Disk. Eglė Baranauskienė – 49.94 years;
4×400 m. Lithuanian U20 national team (Marija Šarkauskaitė, Ugnė Noreikaitė, Viltė Makaraitė, Simona Šlapšinskaitė) – 3 min. 50.80 sec. (the best result of the season in Lithuania).
In the team competition of LLAF sports clubs, the capital’s sports club “Cosma” triumphed (20665 points), the second place was taken by the Panevėžys athletics club “Žvaigždė” (18434 points), and the third place was taken by the sports club “Jusis training” (9477 points).
Photo by Alfredas Pliadis
