The Lithuanian Athletics Federation delegates 11 athletes from the country who have won the right to compete in the world championships to the World Championships. The 20th anniversary World Championship will take place in Tokyo (Japan) on September 13-21. More than 2000 athletes from around 200 countries will perform at the Olympic Stadium.

Track and field athletes could enter the championship by following the norms or collecting points in the ranking system. World record holder Mykolas Alekna (discus throw), world champion Andrius Gudžius (discus throw), Lithuanian champions Martynas Alekna (discus throw), Ieva Gumbs (discus throw), Dovilė Kilty (triple jump), Beatričė Juškevičiūtė (heptathlon), Juozas Baikštys (high jump) and Lithuanian record holders Edis Matusevičius (javelin throw), Liveta Jasiūnaitė successfully qualified for the most important start of the year.(javelin throw), Gabija Galvydytė (800 m, 1500 m), Gediminas Truskauskas (200 m).

The World Championships are held every two years, the first one was held in Helsinki (Finland) in 1983. The best athletes on the planet are returning to the Japanese capital for the second time, since the World Championships were held in Tokyo in 1991. In addition, in 2021, the Tokyo Stadium hosted the Summer Olympics.

At the World Championships, athletes will compete in 49 events – 24 women’s, 24 men’s and 4×400 m mixed relay – and will share 147 medals. The prize pool is almost $8.5 million, and cash prizes will be awarded to the top eight of each event. The organizers also established a cash prize (100 thousand. for an improved world record.

Lithuanians have won three gold, five silver and three bronze medals in the history of the World Championships. The last time the planetary championships were held was in 2023 in Budapest (Hungary). 16 of our team started in the Hungarian capital, and Mykolas Alekna managed to win the bronze medal.

The World Athletics Championships will be broadcast live by LRT.

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Photo by Alfredas Pliadis