The 18th European Youth Olympic Summer Festival (EJOF) kicked off in North Macedonia on Monday. On its first day, as many as 24 Lithuanian athletes tried their strength. The EJOF athletics fights take place in North Macedonia’s largest stadium, the 33,000-seat Tosche Proeski National Arena. Four Lithuanians tried their hand here on Monday.
Ieva Šadžiūtė and Martynas Kolupaila, who started in the 100 m race, successfully overcame the qualification barrier and made it to the semi-finals. In the first stage of the girls’ competition, 17-year-old I. Šadžiūtė covered the distance in 12.04 seconds. She was fifth in her qualification run and 14th among all 28 participants.
“I’m not very impressed with the results. I hope I will at least make it to the semi-finals,” said the Lithuanian immediately after the finish. In the semi-finals, where 16 runners competed, she improved her result – she ran the 100 m in 11.90 seconds. But this did not help to rise – I. Šadžiūtė again took the 14th place.
“It’s very nice to participate here, to have the opportunity to start in such competitions. I am glad that I got here and I appreciate it very much,” said the athlete.
M. Kolupaila finished third in her qualification run (10.89 seconds). Among the 25 participants, his result was 14th.
“It was fun to run. The conditions are really good. The timing is not spectacular. The most important thing is that I got further,” said the athlete after the first start. According to him, the blazing heat in Skopje is the right weather for sprinters: “Good temperature. You just need to cool down properly. I have a towel wet to put on my neck. This is necessary for blood circulation.”
In the semi-finals, the Lithuanian ran much faster – 10.72 seconds. However, this did not open the door to the final. He was only 0.02 seconds short of it. Thus, in the final standings of the competition, the 17-year-old Lithuanian took the ninth place.
Simona Šlapšinskaitė started in the 400 m distance qualification. In the first 400 m qualifying run, the 16-year-old finished sixth (57.94 seconds). Among the 21 participants, her result was sixteenth. Eight of the fastest athletes made it to the final.
High jumper Redas Šiuipys took the 15th place. The 16-year-old jumped 195 cm. A place in the final would have been guaranteed by a height of 201 cm, but the Lithuanian failed to overcome it in three attempts. The personal record of this athlete is 200 cm.
LNOC information
Photo by Rokas Snarskis.
