Already next weekend (February 28 – March 1), the Lithuanian Athletics Championships will be held for the first time in the new Kaunas President Valdas Adamkus Athletics Arena. The country’s best track and field athletes last competed in the Temporary Capital exactly 10 years ago – in 2016, and this time more than 300 athletes come to try their strength. Among them are the middle-distance runner Gabija Galvydytė, who shines across the Atlantic, and the sprinter Adas Dambrauskas, who has already been named the fastest person in the country.
Establishing the world’s elite
The name of G. Galvydytė, a runner who lives and trains in Oregon (USA), sounded very loud as soon as 2026 began – in January, the track and field athlete improved the Lithuanian records for 1000 and 1500 meters short track running. One of them also guaranteed a place at the World Indoor Championships in Toruń (Poland) in March. Gabija is so far the only Lithuanian who has fulfilled the norm for these championships. When asked how she evaluates the winter season, the 26-year-old runner is modestly happy.
“It’s a very stable season, the current form is really good. My coach and I don’t really focus on the indoor season, so work and daily training continue. This is even more pleasing – you don’t always manage to complete everything in the competition with hard work and without reducing the load, but now you manage to train hard and run fast. It’s fun,” smiles the multiple Lithuanian record holder and champion, participant of the Paris Olympic Games.
Since she is a rare guest in her homeland, she says she appreciates every start here even more. “It is an extremely good feeling to run in Lithuania – between one’s own borders and acquaintances. It really helps you concentrate and perform even better. Although there is not much competition, I hope that we will be able to run fast on our own. How fast – we will see, it’s hard to say, especially since I will run 800 meters for the first time this season,” the athlete shares her thoughts.
After the Lithuanian Championship, she and coach Justinas Beržanskis will go to a training camp in Portugal, and directly from there to the World Indoor Championship in Toruń. There are more goals for this year. “I want to run even faster, improve records, participate in high-level competitions. I hope to finally make my debut in the Diamond League, successfully collect ranking points and qualify for the World Athletics Ultimate Championship. However, the main goal is the European Championship in Birmingham (United Kingdom) in August. It would be fun to make it to the final, and the medal would be a fairy tale,” smiles G. Galvydytė.
Just 0.01 seconds. to the extraordinary title
The Old Continent Championships, which will take place in the summer, are also the main goal of sprinter A. Dambrauskas this year. The 20-year-old runner still has a chance to make it to the World Indoor Championships in Poland. Unlike G. Galvydytė, he has not yet fulfilled the norm, but he is very close to the so-called “dash” in the rankings – he occupies 65th place, and 56 of the fastest sprinters on the planet will go to the championship. Therefore, the start in Kaunas is extremely important, here you can collect both important ranking points and strive for the standard itself (60 m standard – 6.59 seconds, Ado’s best result – 6.62 seconds). However, the athlete does not create pressure on himself.
“I just want to enjoy the competition, especially since the Lithuanian championship takes place only twice a year. The most important thing is to run my run the way I do in training, then the result will definitely be good,” says the sprinter. And the results this season were already impressive – in the competition held in Łódź (Poland), the athlete covered his main distance in 6.64 seconds. That’s just 0.02 seconds. slower than the current national record, which A. Dambrauskas shares with Kastytis Klimas. Thus, only 0.01 seconds are missing for Adas to be officially called the fastest person in Lithuania.
This winter, the athlete has already managed to try out the new Kaunas Arena – he participated in the international Cosma Cup competitions there. “I really liked the atmosphere – a lot of people gathered, everyone actively supported the athletes, this is not often the case in our country. As for the arena itself, what I liked most was that there is no connection in the warm-up zone – you have to deal with your head yourself, concentrate on running, and not think about extraneous things. This goes a long way in achieving better results. Runners of longer distances are happy with the more comfortable turns of the new arena,” explains A. Dambrauskas.
Runners Simas Bertašius, Giedrius Valinčius, Modesta Justė Morauskaitė, triple jumper Diana Zagainova, Dovilė Kilty, Aina Grikšaitė, pole vaulter Rugilė Miklyčiūtė and many other top track and field athletes in the country will also take advantage of the opportunity to compete in the new arena this weekend. The competition will take place on Saturday from 1:50 p.m. to 6 p.m., on Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free.
Photo by Alfredas Pliadis
