On the last Sunday of January, Panevėžys will become the capital of Lithuanian athletics. The Lithuanian Athletics Federation (LLAF) Cups, as well as team competitions of sports clubs, will take place in the arena on Liepų Avenue. More than 320 participants will compete, including Olympians Diana Zagainova, Modesta Justė Morauskaitė, Ieva Gumbs, national record holders Rugilė Miklyčiūtė, Simas Bertašius, as well as athletes from Latvia and Ukraine. For some of the athletes, this will be the first competition of the year, but they are already expected to set national records and norms for the European and World Championships.
Record start to the year
As soon as 2026 began, the country’s track and field athletes have already improved or repeated national records five times. Of these, three times it was done by the pole vaulter Rugilė Miklyčiūtė. 20-year-old athlete on January 10 In the competition held in Latvia, she overcame a height of 4.35 meters, and on January 22 in the Riga Cup competition, she even improved this result twice, finally recording a height of 4.40 meters. When asked how she evaluates the start of the season, the athlete does not mince words. “A good start is half the work. I really hope that this will continue to be the case and that this season will be injury-free. I would like to show stability in Panevėžys,” the athlete shares her expectations.
It was at the Panevėžys Athletics Arena that R. Miklyčiūtė also improved the Lithuanian record in February last year. This, according to the athlete, gives additional motivation before Sunday’s start. “It’s always nice to go back to the place where the national record was improved. I really like this arena, and the conditions are great,” smiles the multiple national record holder. She adds that she is already waiting for the next start – the international Cosma Cup competition that will take place on February 7 at the Valdas Adamkus Athletics Arena in Kaunas. “I am a Kaunas resident myself, so I am really happy to have the opportunity to compete in the home arena. In general, it is nice that such a high-level competition is organized in the country. I can’t wait to try my hand at the bitter elite,” R. Miklyčiūtė concludes.
Test your strength
Another Lithuanian record holder, Olympian and triple jumper Diana Zagainova, says that she is waiting for the aforementioned competition in Kaunas. It was in the Provisional Capital that she started this year’s season – she won an unusual long jump competition in the SM “Startas” cup competition on January 6. However, the athlete says that she is considering the LLAF Cup competition that will take place in Panevėžys this Sunday as the real start of the season. “The competition in Kaunas was simply part of that day’s training. We did not prepare for them as competitions and did not reduce the training load. My coach and I decided to just use the start as a good technical workout – to check how I do accelerations, how I feel, how I manage rhythm and speed, what sensations are in my body… That’s what we did. Finally, after the competition, I went to lift barbells so that the pre-planned training would be done to the end,” laughs the athlete.
And here at the competition in Panevėžys, she says she wants to show everything that succeeds in training. “Both me and coach Marius Vadeikis are happy with my current form, my jumps. Everything is going according to plan, I am happy about the new stage of life and training in Kaunas. Now all you have to do is realize all this in the competition. The first start is always difficult to predict,” says multiple Lithuanian champion D. Zagainova.
After the start in Panevėžys, the track and field athlete has several commercial competitions waiting for her this winter, the aforementioned Cosma Cup and the Lithuanian Championship in Kaunas. The World Indoor Championships to be held in Toruń (Poland) in March are also on their minds. “Even before COVID, I had qualified for the World Championship in China, but due to the pandemic it was postponed many times and I couldn’t get there in the end. So I haven’t participated in the World Indoor Championship yet. Although only 16 of the strongest women in the world will participate in this year’s world championships in the triple jump, everything is possible,” the track and field athlete concludes.
Track and field athletes will be able to pursue norms and ranking points both for this championship and for the European Championships to be held in Birmingham (UK) in August at the competition that will take place this Sunday in Panevėžys. They will start at 12 p.m. in the women’s high jump, men’s and women’s triple jump (with D. Zagainova participating) and women’s shot put. Women’s pole vault (with R. Miklyčiūtė) starts at 2:40 p.m. The end of the competition is 6 p.m. Admission is free.
Full program and list of participants
Photo by Alfredas Pliadis
