On Thursday, the European U23 Athletics Championships began in Bergen (Norway). 18 Lithuanians participate in it, and the Lithuanian record holder of the 60 m and 4×100 m races Adas Dambrauskas had high hopes of taking a high place. Unfortunately, the sprinter could not start in the 100 m qualification due to injury.
The difficult decision to miss the most important competition of the year was made just before the start, when the athlete was doing a warm-up.
“The same back muscle that I felt in June at the competitions in Kaunas and Madrid. Today it felt that that leg was tense, but during the exercise it seemed that everything would be fine. In addition, when accelerating, the situation improved, because the muscle warmed up. A few minutes before the start, I tried to sprint, because I knew that if I couldn’t do it now, I wouldn’t be able to do it in the competition. I ran about 30 meters and tightened my muscle while braking. The equations didn’t crack, it shouldn’t be something serious,” A. Dambrauskas shared his thoughts.
The athlete felt the pain on June 18 at the Cosma Cup competition. True, then she still managed to win the third place in the 100 m running event (10.56 seconds, in the qualification – 10.48 seconds). Already on June 27, the start in the top division of the European Team Championship awaited, where the Lithuanian recorded the best result of the 100 m race season (10.34 seconds). A. Dambrauskas set a personal record last year (10.29 seconds).
“After Madrid, there were maybe only three training sessions where I ran normally (more than 40-60 meters). I didn’t attach much importance to the pains and hoped to be ready for this championship. In training, the psychological fear was greater, but I didn’t think about it at all. Today I could come and run the 100m in 11-12 seconds, but that wouldn’t change anything. The mind says that the right decision has been made, but the heart hurts. We have been talking to the coach for a long time that this is the main start of the year. The qualification results are not high, so I could have easily made it to the semi-finals, and I would have fought for the final,” said A. Dambrauskas.
The athlete, who celebrated his 20th birthday last month, made his debut in the World Indoor Championships (32nd place) and the European Indoor Championships (9th place) in winter. In the latter, he managed to repeat the Lithuanian 60 m record (6.62 seconds), which had belonged to Kastytis Klimas since 1993. However, if at first the thoughts in Bergen revolved only around the medal, then later the hopes decreased: “After the winter season, I thought about the medal, we applied the best form here. Later, even though injuries prevented me, I still thought about the final. I trusted, motivated myself and tried to get started. It was really difficult not to run, because it seems that I disappointed myself, the coaches, the club. Everyone put in a lot of effort and was very dedicated.”
The sprinter did not hide that there are thoughts of not starting again this year and treating injuries and preparing for the European Championships in Birmingham (Great Britain) next summer (August 10-16): “We will have to see, but psychologically I am already preparing for next year. Maybe I will spend a little bit of the winter season to heal the injury. Next day the European Championship awaits us, we would like to perform well there. This season had a lot of potential, because the training went well and the level increased. At one point, I was thinking about the World Cup, but everything was stopped by one small injury, which is not even serious, but it is repetitive and does not allow you to train.”
A. Dambrauskas, who had a breakthrough season, mentioned that he has recently started to look at sports more professionally and think more about his body: “I feel that training is not just about training. I also started to think more about life outside the arena or the stadium. It is important to take care of yourself, and when I started working with Mantas Jusis at the club, I learned a lot about my body. He is not the strongest. Maybe some of the back muscles are strong, but others are weaker. It’s sad now, but I have a lot of potential, so I should come back stronger.”
The European U23 Championship is broadcast live on the Eurovision Sport portal. The competition in Bergen will take place until Monday.
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Photo by Alfredas Pliadis
