Already this month, the World University Games will take place in Germany, and the athletes will compete in Bochum on July 21-27. True, there will not be a single Lithuanian among the participants. On Thursday, July 10, the Lithuanian Athletics Federation (LLAF) received an official and confirmatory letter from the Lithuanian Student Sports Association (LSSA), which informed that the Lithuanian student athletics team will not be able to participate in the World Summer Universiade this year.
The answer submitted by the LSSA states that the athletics team was not approved in June due to errors in the registration system. The organizers were repeatedly contacted with a request to help and solve the problem, but the athletics team was still not accepted, although the situation arose due to technical errors in the system.
“This is an unprecedented case when a country cannot represent its entire national team in international student games. It is very disappointing that the strongest students of our country will lose the opportunity to represent Lithuania and achieve the highest results in one of the biggest international sports events this year. Thank you for your understanding and hope that such situations will not be repeated in the future,” reads the statement sent by the LSSA.
The athletics team was to be represented by 10 Lithuanian athletes, including Olympian Gabija Galvydytė, Lithuanian record holder Tomas Keršulis, and European Championship participant Lukrecija Sabaitytė.
“LLAF regrets that the competition calendar of athletes of this level, who are preparing for the World Championships, is destroyed. For some of them, this was supposed to be the most important start of the year. It is unbelievable that such things are happening these days. It is very irresponsible,” said Nijolė Medvedeva, Secretary General of the LLAF.
We remind you that in 2023 at the Universiade held in Chengdu (China), javelin thrower Edis Matusevičius won the gold medal, and silver medals were awarded to triple jumper Diana Zagainova and multi-athlete Edgaras Benkunskas.
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