Day 2 at the European Athletics U23 Championships was full of events and unforgettable moments for athletes. Lithuania‘s Lina Grinčikaitė captured the European Athletics U23 Championships 100m title.
Men‘s Decathlon:
Friday afternoon competition started with Men‘s Decathlon Pole Vault. Mantas Šilkauskas plummeted from the bronze medal position as he failed to register a height after three failures (4.00m). Eelco Sintnicolaas of the Netherlands moved into first over all with his PB 5.30
Men‘s 110m Hurdles Semifinal:
In 110m semifinal Artūras Janauskas of Lithuania clocked 14.77 and was 8th in his group. He slipped onto 23rd in the overall classification. Dmitri Bascou of France took the first semi in 13.54.
Women‘s 100m Hurdles Semifinal:
Lithuania‘s Sonata Tamošaitytė was third in her semi clocking 13.10 and qualified for the finals repeating NR. Norway‘s Christina Vukicevic moved into a lead with a 13.05 clocking in the first semi, fastest of the round. Sonata‘s result is 3rd in the overal classification.
Men‘s 100m Final:
The top honours were grabbed by athletes from Dreat Britain: Harry Aikines-Aryeetey – the gold (10.15), Leevan Yearwood – the silver and Rion Pierre - the bronze. Meanwhile Lithuania‘s Rytis Sakalauskas finished the fourth clocking 10.38. with his PB.After the finish Rytis said that he is happy with the result and thanked the athletics fans who supported him enthusiastically.
Women‘s 100m finals:
Lina Grinčikaitė held her nerve to take the title in 11.37 with great support from the home crowd. After the finish Lina immediately snatched the flag of Lithuania and couldn‘t stop smiling. She rejoiced at her victory at the European Championships and thanked her coach and the spectators.
Women‘s 1500m:
Winner in her heat was Rose-Anne Galligan of Irelend. Lydia Windbichler won her heat. Lithuania‘s athletes didn‘t participate in the event.
Men‘s 1500m:
Justinas Beržanskis of Lithuania finished 20th clocking 3:53.05 and, unfortunately, didn‘t qualify for the finals. Russia‘s Ivan Tukhatchev won in the first heat and Alvaro Rodriguez of Spain - in the second one.
Women‘s Triple Jump Final:
Lithuania‘s Jolanta Verseckaitė was among 12 finalists. After three attempts Jolanta‘s final standing was 10th with 13.06m.
Men‘s 400m Final:
The predictions were confirmed with Yannick Fonsat winning in 45.68 with the first five finishers all registering PBs. Britain‘s Nigel Levin took silver 0.10 down while bronze went to Poland‘s Jan Ciepiela (45.81).
Women‘s Shot Put Final:
Virmantė Vaičekonytė of Lithuania had the best throw measuring 14.06m and placed 13th.
Women‘s 10000m Final:
21 athlete competed in the most difficult event in a warm 25 degrees. Natalya Popkova took the title running in 33:37.31 with Hungary‘s Zsofia Erdelyi collecting silver and Serbia‘s Azra Erminovic in bronze. Lithuania‘s Vaida Žūsinaitė at the beginning was in the group of leaders but later she was running in 10th position . Finally she finished 9th. Athletics fans at the stadium joked that Lithuania grabbed the highest trophy again as Vaida can be titled the most beautiful athlete in the event. The athete said that spectators‘ active support will help her to cope for Sunday‘s 5000m.
Men‘s High Jump Q:
Raivydas Stanys at qualification cleared 2.05, 2,10, 2.14. He managed to clear 2.17 on his third attempt only. It was 12th-13th result in the final classification. Raivydas qualified for the finals. Five men cleared 2.20, the best record coming from Poland‘s Sylwester Bednarek.
Men‘s Long Jump Final:
Darius Aučyna of Lithuania had only one succesful attempt (7.39) and placed 11th. Latvia‘s Janis Leitis jumped 7.90 with his final effort to clinch gold. Russia‘s Pavel Karayev grabbed silver from Finland‘s Mikko Kivinen.
Women‘s 400m Final:
Agnė Orlauskaitė of Lithuania was 5th with PB 52.81. Russia‘s athletes captured the top honours. Kseniya Ustalova claimed gold in 51.74.
Men‘s 200m Q:
On Friday afternoon Litghuanian athletes competed in 200m qualifications. After his performance in 100m distance Rytis Sakalauskas decided not to participate in the event and economise his strength for relay. Egidijus Dilys was 5th in heat 3 (21.43) and didn‘t qualify for the finals. Egidijus placed 18th in the final classification. Germany‘s Alexio Platini Menga clocked first – 20.70.
