2022 of the Old At the continental championships in Munich, discus thrower Mykolas Alekna earned gold, two years later in Rome – bronze, and now at the championships taking place in Birmingham, the athlete won silver, thus adding to his medal collection. However, the title of European vice-champion does not please Mykolas at least for now, so he promises to repeat it in the future The 2022 scenario.
Half-year change
In March, when the world record holder My. Alekna suffered a serious injury, thoughts about the European Championship were very vague – rehabilitation could have taken up to half a year, so the championship would have had to be forgotten. After an unexpectedly quick and very successful return, the athlete also shone at the European Championships. In the fierce discus throw final, the representative of the Alekna dynasty threw the implement 69.89 m with his best attempt and won silver. Next – 72.51 m – only Slovenian Kristjan Čeh threw the discus. Although fans dressed in the tricolor were rejoicing, Mykolas himself did not hide his bitterness.
“Of course, I wanted gold…” Everyone hopes. I am not as happy as I would like to be. Next time, next time… ” – said the decorated discus thrower briefly. When asked if the joy is heightened by the realization of how challenging this season was, My. Alekna has already squeezed out more smiles.
“Definitely yes. If someone had told me before the season that things would turn out this way, I would have been satisfied. I’m glad I can be here, but, you know, the emotions right after everything immediately come with a bit of sadness. I hope that everything will improve later,” summarized the athlete wrapped in the tricolor.
Arrows to critics
Another member of the Aleknas family – Martynas – threw the implement 61.78 m in the European Championship final and finished in 12th place. He also did not say much when evaluating his performance. “I don’t know, I rate it average…” We were just a little short of that good performance. Maybe I didn’t do what I could, because the competitors were really very well prepared, the results were insanely high, and the conditions were also really good… I hope that with experience, everything will only get better. “The further it goes, the easier it gets,” Ma smiled. Alekna.
Meanwhile, Andrius Gudžius , who appeared in his seventh consecutive continental championship, was much more talkative. The athlete, who took 9th place (63.99 m), assessed his performance as “poor” in his own words – the experienced discus thrower hoped to break into the top six. Among other things, he did not spare criticism of those who criticize athletes.
“In Lithuania, we are such that as long as there are medals, it’s fine, but when they don’t exist, they quickly start nailing you to the cross. Here, it’s fashionable to call everyone tourists… But I always say – if someone talks a lot, here you go – it’s not that difficult to come here. You come, toss it around, meet the standard, and when you arrive here, you do what needs to be done,” laughed A. Gudžius.
Photo by Alfredas Pliadis
