June 20-22 Chozuve (Poland) the second league of the European Athletics Team Championship, in which the Lithuanian national team will participate, will also take place in the program of the European Games. The team consists of more than 40 athletes, and in the event of an unforeseen event, there is a possibility to use reserves.
Since 2009, the championship, held every 2 years, consists of 3 leagues, and Lithuania always balances between the first and second (In 2009, the national team won the second league and was promoted to the first for a while - Auth. past). 16 national teams participate in each league (8 used to participate), the top 3 are promoted to a higher league, and the bottom 3 are relegated.
"We will compete against very strong competitors, for example athletes from Ukraine, Estonia or Serbia, and our own level is roughly the middle of Europe, so we aim to confidently stay in our league," said the general secretary of the Lithuanian Athletics Federation (LLAF). Nijole Medvedeva.
N. Medvedeva did not hide that there are unknowns before the championship: "6 of our athletes have just returned from JAV, where the students' season ended, so it is not completely clear how the adaptation will affect them and what their sports form will be."
In the 17th individual events, one of each country's best male and female athletes will compete, and the program also includes two relay events - 4x100m men's and women's and 4x400m mixed.
"Undoubtedly, the priority is the team, it is necessary for everyone to fight until the end, because every point won will be very important. We hope that everyone will individually demonstrate their level of results and perform as well as possible in individual matches", hoped N. Medvedeva.
This time the Lithuanian national team will be represented by 5 Olympians and 4 from the last World Championship (the latter took place in July 2022 in Oregon, USA) participants. In these competitions, athletes will be able to fulfill the norms and collect ranking points for the World Athletics Championships in Hungary (August 19-27).
Track and field athletes will not only compete in the team championship, but also individually, as after all three league competitions, the best in each event will be awarded. "We wish the athletes of our country prizes and medals, we hope that such achievements will be recorded", said the general secretary of the LLAF.
"We are very happy that most of our leaders gladly and willingly represent the national team and understand the importance. Team captain Andrius Gudžius always able to motivate and support others, and among the women we will choose a new captain to replace the one who ended her great career Agnes ŠerkšnienėN. Medvedeva added.
In addition to Lithuania, Romania, Estonia, Hungary, Denmark, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Latvija, Croatia, Iceland, Serbia, Cyprus, Moldova, Ukraine, Luxembourg.
This means that it will be possible to see almost 600 track and field athletes, such as the discus thrower, in the competition Christian Czech (world champion and European vice-champion), high jumper Yaroslav Mahuchikh (world vice-champion), participating in the triple jump and long jump events Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk (world vice-champion and European champion), 400 m hurdles favorite Viktoriya Tkachuk (European vice-champion) and others.
Lithuanian team members: Gediminas Truskauskas ir Eva Misiūnaitė (100 m); Gediminas Truskauskas and Lucretija Sabaitytė (200 m); Tomas Keršulis ir Modesta Justė Morauskaitė (400 m); Simas Bertašius ir Gabija Galvydytė (800 m and 1500 m); Giedrius Valinčius ir Lina Kiriliuk (5000 m); Edgar Benkunskas ir Gabija Klimukaitė (110 mb/b and 100 mb/b); Rapola Saulius ir Ema Sarafinaite (400 mb/b); Giedrius Valinčius/Justin Beržanskis ir Greta Karinauskaitė (3000 m above sea level); Juozas Baikštys ir Irish Maid (high jump); Nicodemus Lauryns ir Rugilė Miklyčiūtė (pole vault); Marius Vadeikis ir Jogailė Petrokaitė (long jump); Gust Griška ir Aina Grikšaite (triple jump); Šarūnas Banevičius ir Urtė Bačianskaitė (ball pushing); Edis Matusevičius ir Liveta Jasiūnaitė (Javelin Throw); Andrius Gudžius ir Ieva Zarankaite (disk throwing); Tomas Vasiliauskas ir Agnė Lukoševičiūtė (hammer throw); Gediminas Truskauskas, Kostas Skrabulis, Kristupas Seikauskas, Daniel Vasiliauskas, Adas Dambrauskas (4×100 m); Eva Misiūnaitė, Lucrecija Sabaitytė, Ema Rupšytė, Andre Ožechauskaitė, Akvilė Jonauskytė (4×100 m); Lukas Sutkus, Tomas Keršulis, Modesta Justė Morauskaitė, Ema Sarafinaitė, Roberta Žikaite (4×400 m mixed).
