On Sunday, the World Athletics Championships finished in Tokyo (Japan). On the last day of the competition, the historic men’s discus throw final took place – for the first time 3 representatives of Lithuania participated in it. True, the final was not what everyone expected, but Martynas Alekna, who took the seventh place, successfully performed in it.
Shortly before the start of the final, the stadium started to rain – the strongest in the entire championship. Mykolas Alekna , who entered the sector first, made the qualifying throw (62.91 m), followed by the turn of the Australian Matthew Denny . He did not survive in the slippery sector and did not record the result, and the competition was soon stopped.
The athletes were taken out of the sector, later returned to it, but when heavy rain started again, the competition was not extended. Behind the scenes, it was proposed to extend the competition now, the next day, or not to hold it at all and not to crown the champion.
Finally, the decision was made to extend the race, and more than two hours had already passed since the official start time. In the updated final, Martynas Alekna threw the discus 63.34 m (63.05-63.34-x-62.47-x) in the best attempt. This result not only allowed him to take the seventh place, but also to overtake the world and European champion Kristjan Čeh (63.07 m, 8th place), the winner of the Olympic Games and the World Championship Lukas Weisshaidinger (62.26 m, 9th place) and three other discus throwers.
“I think there is definitely [something to be happy about]. Of course, the conditions were brutally difficult. I didn’t expect that there could be. The competition was postponed, the sector was very slippery, it was brutally difficult to throw. However, some of them succeeded [Mykolas Alekna and Daniel Stahlis]. It bothered me a bit, it was very difficult. We didn’t do anything – we sat and waited for a decision. We continued to prepare,” said Martynas Alekna about the conditions and the temporarily suspended competition.
In the chaotic final, D. Stahl triumphed (70.47 m), and the second place was won by Mykolas Alekna (67.84 m). Martynas Alekna sympathized with his brother for failing to become a champion: “I’m a little sorry for Mykolas, because he really could have won. I just shook hands, we haven’t talked yet, we’ll talk after the race. I think he himself is not very happy either.”
In the discus throw qualification on Saturday, Martynas Alekna, who demonstrated the second best result of his career (67.16 m, career record – 67.23 m), made it to the final in the most direct way. According to the athlete, it was possible to continue throwing in the final, but due to the slippery sector, he had to change his throwing technique: “Anyway, seventh is a brutally good position. I didn’t expect it, but there were opportunities to continue throwing today. Of course, the conditions are the same for everyone. Some even fell, tried to change their shoes. I was slipping, but I tried to change my technique, I made the shot more slowly. I think I have seen what conditions can be. I will never expect worse ones, there can’t be. I think I’m ready for anything now.”
After the first throw, Martynas Alekna took the first place, his brother was second at that time. According to the athlete, it was fun at that moment, but he understood that the results would still change. Andrius Gudžius , who started in the World Championship final for the fifth time, took the sixth place (63.43 m), and the bronze medal went to Samoa’s Alex Rose (66.96 m).
It was Martynas Alekna’s second World Championship. In 2023 in Budapest (Hungary), the track and field athlete took 20th place (62.57 m). Last year, the Lithuanian made his debut at the European Championships (18th place, 61.18 m) and the Paris Olympics (28th place, 58.66 m), and this year he won the bronze medal in the European Throwing Cup (63.96 m) and became the vice-champion of Lithuania (66.01 m).
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Photo by Alfredas Pliadis
