„I definitely did not show what I was prepared for… Just before the competition, I ran 60 meters with my coach and felt amazing – I ran almost the fastest in my career,“ shared the sprinter.
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Unfortunately, at the „Alexander“ stadium, she couldn’t repeat that – the Vilnius native finished the 200 m heats in 23.62 seconds, placing sixth in her race and 18th overall among 22 contenders.
She missed the semifinal top twelve by 0.23 seconds.
- The European 200 m sprint leaders did not run in the heats. The athletes with the best times will start the competition directly from the semifinals.
„I simply didn’t put in the effort from the start… I tried to run with smaller steps, but I didn’t push off well, and I lacked a lot at the end.
The weather was such that it could only help. That’s why it’s even more regrettable that I didn’t take advantage of it. Although, maybe the headwind was a bit of a hindrance (-0.4 m/s)?
I also thought about the lack of experience, but earlier, when I had even less experience, I performed better in international competitions. The problem lies somewhere else, and I’m eagerly waiting to talk with my coach. Maybe it will bring me back to reality and explain what went wrong? That it could be different?“ – said L. Sabaitytė.
- This is L. Sabaitytė’s second continental championship. In her debut competition in Rome 2022, she was 19th (23.56 seconds).
- The fastest 200 m of her career was last year in Madrid – 23.11 seconds.
- Her best result this season is 23.44 seconds at the end of July.
- The Lithuanian 200 m running record since 2018 belongs to Agnė Šerkšnienė – 22.99 seconds.
„I hoped at least to improve my personal best this season. And I didn’t know if that would be enough… Now I see it definitely would have been enough, and that makes it even more regrettable,“ the athlete admitted with frustration.
The women’s 200 m sprint semifinals will take place today from 22:20.
„Maybe I’ve had enough of individual competitions this year, but on August 23 in Poland, we will run the mixed relay in the Diamond League. I’m really looking forward to that start. It’s important to pass the baton well, and then it’s just about running as well as possible.
I’ve never run a relay at this level of competition before, and maybe I never will again, so we’re all really looking forward to that start. Of course, there’s much more responsibility in the team. There’s more nervousness, but the emotions are incomparable, being four times stronger,“ the sprinter concluded.
- In the „Diamond League“ mixed 4×100 m relay, L. Sabaitytė, Ema Rupšytė, Adas Dambrauskas, and Gediminas Truskauskas will run.
– We will try to improve the Lithuanian mixed relay record. We try to do this every time.“
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You can find the Lithuanian schedule and expectations at the European Championship here.
