FirstOn Friday of June, the summer season of athletics was officially opened at the Palanga City Stadium – several hundred athletes participated in the Lithuanian Athletics Federation (LLAF) Cup and sports club team competitions. Although in the middle of the competition the pouring rain began to pour in the resort, this did not prevent the athletes from improving their personal and season records, defending the name of the leaders or, on the contrary, enjoying their first victories.
A decade of dominance
The competition started with a hammer throwing competition. There, the eleventh LLAF Cup in a row was won by experienced track and field athlete Tomas Vasiliauskas. Since 2016, the invincible thrower in Lithuania threw 66.14 m. However, the path to this achievement was not easy – the athlete failed to record the result in the first two throws, so, in his own words, he had to talk to himself. “Today I didn’t go with the technique at all, I was kind of slow. When I got up in the morning, I felt that something was wrong, but I thought that everything would be fine in the sector. After the first unsuccessful shots, I tried to sit down and think about what to fix technically. In the end, I managed to lose as much as I could best today,” T. Vasiliauskas shares his experience of the competition.
When asked if the eleventh LLAF Cup brings as much joy as the first, the athlete does not think about it for a long time. “Absolutely not. The first victories were much more fun, now I look more at the result than the place I occupied. If I stayed second or third, but managed to throw over 70 meters, improve my personal record, I would be much happier,” the athlete smiles.
In the footsteps of the record holder
In contrast to T. Vasiliauskas, eighteen-year-old runner Felisitė Feimanaitė was happy with the first LLAF Cup in her career. The young athlete triumphed in the 1500 m run, covering the distance in 4 minutes 45.93 seconds. and improved her career record. After the start, the young athlete smiled broadly. “I am really very happy to finally have this title. Although without very much competition, the run was definitely not easy, it was difficult to lead the entire distance. I’m glad I succeeded,” says the athlete.
She is coached by experienced runner Justinas Beržanskis, whose students include one of the most famous Lithuanian track and field athletes Gabija Galvydytė. The runner who trains across the Atlantic recently broke another national record and became the first female athlete in the country to complete the 1500 m in less than 4 minutes. This becomes an example for young athletes as well. “Gabia’s example is very inspiring. It’s a lot of fun to watch her career in the United States, her American dream,” says F. Feimanaitė.
On the first day of the LLAF Cup competition, the winners of 16 more matches were revealed.
Men.
100 m. Martynas Kolupaila – 10.64 sec. (the best result of the season in Lithuania);
400 m. Lukas Sutkus – 47.64 sec. (the best result of the season in Lithuania);
1500 m. Justinas Laurinaitis – 4 min. 11.91 sec.;
110 m b/b. Edgaras Benkunskas – 14.41 sec. (the best result of the season in Lithuania);
Height. Ignas Bitinas 2.05 m;
Far away. Ramūnas Kleinauskas – 7.29 years;
Spear. Kasparas Bačianskas – 61.02 years;
4×100 m. Lithuanian national team (Aistis Manton, Martynas Kolupaila, Adas Dambrauskas, Danielius Vasiliauskas) – 42.03 sec. (the best result of the season in Lithuania).
Women.
100 years old Ema Rupšytė – 11.62 seconds. By the way, in the qualification runs, Ieva Šadžiūtė fulfilled the norm of the World U20 Championship to be held in Oregon (USA) (11.71 seconds);
400 m. Modesta Justė Morauskaitė – 53.39 sec. (the best result of the season in Lithuania);
100 m b/b. Gabija Klimukaitė – 13.34 sec. (the best result of the season in Lithuania, personal record);
Height. Evelina Bukauskaitė – 1.70 years;
Far away. Urtė Kščenavičiūtė – 6.30 m.;
Hammer. Kamilė Šauklytė – 47.17 years old. (the best result of the season in Lithuania);
Spear. Orinta Navikaitė – 53.39 years old.
4×100 m. “Star” team (Emilija Celešiūtė, Smiltė Paukštytė, Patricija Grigalionytė, Evelina Savickaitė) – 50.32 sec.
On Saturday, the competition will start at 12:20 p.m.
Start lists and results in real time.
Photo by Alfredas Pliadis
