Early on Saturday morning, three Lithuanian discus throwers entered the Tokyo Olympic Stadium. The best performance in the qualification of the World Athletics Championships was Martynas Alekna, whose discus flew 67.16 m. This is the second best result in the athlete’s career, and he was just seven centimeters short of the personal record achieved in 2023.
The Lithuanian fulfilled the qualification standard (66.50 m) on the first attempt and went out to prepare for the final. 12 participants made it to the final, the result of the last one who qualified was 64.99 m. Martynas Alekna took the third place in the qualification with his result. Mykolas Alekna (65.39 m) and Andrius Gudžius (65.18 m) also made it to the final.
“It’s just amazing. I have no idea what happened. I just came and did what I was ready for. I really didn’t think that I would do the qualification standard on the first attempt. I thought I could make it to the final, but I didn’t even dream of such a scenario,” said Martynas Alekna, who improved the season record by more than a meter.
The athlete spent two weeks before the World Championships in Japan, in an acclimatization camp, which contributed positively to this result. Martynas Alekna, who received congratulations from Daniel Stahl , said that he did not look at the opponents’ shots and focused on himself: “I think the two-week camp helped a lot. We got used to the climate, the sleep regime. We went to bed early, about eight, and got up every day about six. We tried to get used to the rhythm of the competition, so that really helped and we saw it today. I didn’t watch the competition much because I was focused on myself.”
This is Martynas Alekna’s second World Championship. In 2023 in Budapest (Hungary), the Lithuanian took 20th place (62.57 m). Last year, the athlete made his debut at the European Championships in Rome (Italy) (18th place – 61.18 m) and the Paris Olympics (28th place – 58.66 m). This year, the discus thrower won bronze in the European Throwing Cup and silver in the Lithuanian championship.
“It’s just a lot of fun now, and I don’t know what will happen in the final. I will try to enjoy the competition and do what I can best. I don’t even remember it [my shot]. I just came and it seems that I didn’t even quit. Mykolas was very happy. I didn’t think that this could happen someday,” commented Martynas, who overtook his brother Mykolas in the official competition for the first time.
The men’s discus throw final will start on Sunday at 2:10 p.m. It will be broadcast live by LRT. Lithuania is represented by 11 track and field athletes at the World Championships. The Planet Championships in the Far East take place from September 13 to 21.
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Photo by Alfredas Pliadis
