On Sunday, there was no shortage of athletics passions in Panevėžys – the Lithuanian Athletics Federation (LLAF) Cup took place in the city arena, as well as team competitions of sports clubs. As many as 12 of the best results of the season were achieved, and perhaps the most prominent was done by the multiple Lithuanian record holder, runner Simas Bertašius. He was just over a second short of another national record.

The first pancake did not shine

The name of S. Bertašius, next to the name of the 3000 m distance, sounded very loud in July last year – then the athlete improved the Lithuanian record in the stadium that had existed for 43 years, covering this distance in 7 minutes 42.07 seconds. This time the record was attempted in the short course – 7 minutes 55 seconds. Although the runner was just over a second short and covered this distance in 7 minutes 56.12 seconds, this is not only a personal record, but also a record of this competition and the second best result in the history of the country. S. Bertašius himself says that he evaluates the performance ambiguously.

“I am very happy that for the first time in Lithuanian gymnasiums I managed to run 3000 m in less than 8 minutes. The time is good, the first competition of the season, we beat a really strong competitor – the Ukrainian Andrii Atamaniuk, so there is something to be happy about. But at the same time, it is a little unpleasant that that second was missing and the record, which has not been moved for so long, will still wake up. However, I think that by the end of February, either I or Giedrius Valinčius will definitely improve it,” smiles the runner, who has already broken Lithuanian records for various distances (1000, 1500 m, mile, 3000 m) 16 times.

Personal growth

Another multiple Lithuanian record holder, pole vaulter Rugilė Miklyčiūtė won again in this competition, overcoming a height of 4 meters. Three days earlier, the track and field athlete had even improved the Lithuanian record twice in Riga – first she overcame a height of 4.36 meters, and later she obeyed it by 4.40 meters. When asked how she evaluates such an impressive start to the year, the 20-year-old athlete does not hide her joy, and at the same time even higher expectations.

“Both of us and the coach are really happy. However, I think that my limit is higher than the Lithuanian records, so I will continue to work. My goal is to make it to the European Championships in Birmingham in August (the norm of the women’s pole vault competition is 4.60 m, some of the athletes will qualify according to the ranking),” says R. Miklyčiūtė.

More athletes achieved impressive results in the LLAF Cup competition – in the 60 m sprint, Lukrecija Sabaitytė improved her personal record and achieved the best result of the Lithuanian season (7.34 seconds), while among the men, the fastest in this event was Latvian Roberts Jānis Zālītis (6.81 seconds). In the 60 m hurdles, the fastest were Edgaras Benkunskas (8.23 seconds) and Gabija Klimukaitė , who set a personal record (8.29 seconds), in the 400 m sprint – Ukrainian Oleksandr Molodyka (48.67 seconds) and Viltė Bubinaitė (59.51 seconds). The 800 m distance was won first by Miroslav Zniščinskij (1 minute 56.98 seconds) and Rusnė Ponomariovaitė (2 minutes 16.74 seconds). The winners of the 1500 m race were Robertas Vališauskas (3 min. 55.72 sec.) and Auksė Linkutė (4 min. 33.93 sec.). The cup of the 3000 m race without S. Bertašius was won by Emanuelė Balsytė (11 min. 7.70 sec.).

The winners of the high jump event were Ignas Bitinas (2.10 m) and Evelina Bukauskaitė (1.75 m), the first places in the long jump were taken by Marius Vadeikis (7.39 m) and Gintarė Marija Balčiūtė (5.57 m), the Latvian Sandis Dzenītis (15.08 m) and Diana Zagainova (13.50 m) became the triple jump champions. In the shot put, Simonas Bakanas (17.55 m) won the third cup in a row, and the sixth cup was taken home by Ieva Gumbs (14.96 m). In the pole vault event without R. Miklyčiūtė, Kasparas Gustas (5.15 m) triumphed.

The sports club competition in Group I was won by the first team of “Cosma” (10512), in the second place – “Žvaigždė” from Panevėžys (9747) and the second team “Cosma” (7251), and in the second group “Vytis” (1767) won.

Photo by Alfredas Pliadis