At the 100 meters in the “Alexander” stadium in Birmingham, he sprinted in 10.563 seconds and with a powerful finish was third in his qualifying heat.
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But then the biggest oddities began. Although the scoreboard showed that the Lithuanian’s time was twelfth (and exactly that many sprinters qualified), a small “q”, indicating qualification to the semifinals, lit up not in front of A. Dambrauskas, but a slightly slower Finn Riku Illukka (10.565 seconds).
The Lithuanian delegation rose to their feet, it took about 10 minutes and the mistake was corrected – A. Dambrauskas, 0.002 seconds faster, was recorded among the semifinal participants, grabbing the last qualifying spot.
“That’s what I expected. Good emotions. I would have been really more disappointed if I hadn’t qualified,” said the fastest Lithuanian man, speaking quickly both on the track and behind the scenes.
– My run itself was not the most amazing, maybe I stumbled on the third or fourth step, but I finished really well – everything I could.
The strangest thing was that at first I was not in the top twelve on the scoreboard. I was already ready to give up… Then we saw that my result was better by 0.002 seconds. I don’t know why it showed differently – maybe a system error? Or something else? The main thing is, I qualified. I’m happy.”
The men’s 100 m sprint semifinal, as well as the final, will take place later today.
“In the semifinal, the most important thing will be to handle the start, because it was not good. Otherwise – everything the same. It would be good to have better wind conditions, then the result could be much better. Of course, conditions are the same for everyone,” said A. Dambrauskas.
– I think this run of mine was one of the best this season. If the wind turned around, then maybe I could get close to personal bests. I ran with opponents who have good results, with European champions, with people who are definitely faster than me, but I beat them – I’m proud of myself.”
“The main goal was to get at least to the semifinals. Otherwise, I would have been very disappointed, because a lot of work has been put in. Not only mine, but also the team around me. I wanted to perform well for them too,” said the sprinter.
– Now I need to get myself together psychologically, because physically the coach prepares me the best. Even doing warm-ups I felt that I haven’t had such good form as here this season.”
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- Most likely in this event A. Dambrauskas ran this year in Palanga – 10.26 seconds. This result was recorded on July 24.
- The Lithuanian record since 2011 belongs to Rytis Sakalauskas (10.14 seconds).
The men’s 100 m sprint semifinal will take place today from 22:32, the final – at 23:47.
You can find the Lithuanian schedule and expectations at the European Championship here.
