On August 7-10, the European Junior (U20) Athletics Championships will take place in Tampere (Finland), where ten Lithuanians participate. On Saturday, the bronze medal in the javelin throw final was won by Orinta Navikaitė, and on Friday, Aurėja Beniušytė was next to the podium – the triple jumper took the fourth place in the championship.
The achievement is extraordinary, and it is even more impressive that the honorable place was achieved by improving the personal record. In the best attempt, A. Beniušytė jumped 13.35 m (13.35-13.13-12.82-12.86-13.18-12.78) and even improved her career record by fifteen centimeters.
“The joy is infinite, I can’t even describe it. While dancing, I felt that I had done everything very well. I didn’t even wait for them to show me if the jump was counted, because I felt that a white flag would be raised – and it was. The best thing is that in the most important start we managed to give our all and finish the season with a personal record. It’s just wonderful,” A. Beniušytė shared her emotions.
In the triple jump event, the gold medal was won by the Italian Erika Giorgia Anoeta Saraceni (14.24 m), the silver medal was won by the Romanian Daria Vrinceanu (13.75 m), and the bronze was won by the Latvian Adriana Kruzmane (13.62 m).
Although A. Beniušytė danced further than ever before in the final, there were problems before the start: “During the tests, I hurt my heel very badly, so there was a lot of fear. I didn’t know how far the pain could go, but I tried not to think about it. Having traveled so far, I can’t give up or be afraid to dance. Because it was my last and most important race this year, it doesn’t matter how much my heel hurts after it. The most important thing is to enjoy the moment and the finale. Everything else was great, even better than always.”
The Lithuanian managed to record the best result on the first attempt – this is exactly what coach Indrė Gricevičienė wants from the student: “The coach always reminds me of one thing – from the first jump I have to make the best result and not wait for the end, because I can’t always have a chance to make six jumps. That result really motivated me to perform even better, but maybe I overpressed myself a bit. However, even three jumps were over 13 meters, which is very gratifying. Being in the sector, I feel a lot of everything in one – fear, stress, but at the same time happiness, peace, drive and endless joy.”
In 2022, A. Beniušytė took seventh place in the European U18 Championship, in 2023 she remained eleventh in the European U20 Championship, and in 2024 she made her debut at the U20 World Championship, where she took eighteenth position. The triple jumper has amazing achievements at the European Youth Olympic Festivals: in 2022 she managed to win a gold medal and in 2023 she won bronze.
In the winter of this year, A. Beniušytė triumphed in the Baltic and Lithuanian Youth Championships, and in the summer she won gold in the Lithuanian Youth Championship and silver in the Baltic Youth Championship. According to the athlete, high achievements and personal records were determined by hard work, psychological preparation, dedication to sports and enjoyment of competitions.
“There were various emotions – both sad and very joyful. It was before the European Championship that various obstacles began to creep in, which hindered normal preparation. My coach and I ignored them and didn’t let bad thoughts affect us. This season, I learned to deal with my thoughts and ignore what used to get in my way. In addition, I try to find the positive everywhere,” A. Beniušytė reviewed the season and emphasized the lessons learned.
On Friday, sprinter Matas Janarauskas also started in Tampere, who participated in the semi-finals of the 400 m run (47.89 seconds) and took the twentieth place in the championship. On Sunday, Joana Feodorovaitė will appear at the European Championships, where the final of the long jump awaits at 18:55. The championship is broadcast live on the Eurovision Sport portal.
lengvoji.lt
Photo by Darius Kibirkščis.
