A medal won at the European Championship held in Portugal is the first award won by G. Pečiulytė in individual competitions. Although the fencing event did not go well for the Lithuanian in the girls’ final of the last season competition, she did not give up until the very end.
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“This victory boosted my self-confidence. I started the running and shooting event from fifth position and, which is unusual for me, finished third. I proved to myself that I can concentrate in the shooting event and perform well in running. In this competition, unlike before, I was mentally prepared for the running and shooting event – I started relaxed and confident. I think that is the most important moment. It was the last start of the season and I wanted to finish it well. I succeeded and even with a medal,” says G. Pečiulytė happily.
The bronze medal is not the only award G. Pečiulytė has won this year. Together with Liutauras Valeika, she became the vice-champion of the world mixed relays at the youth (under 22) championship held in Kaunas.
The obstacle course attracted to modern pentathlon
G. Pečiulytė’s story is similar to many athletes who ended up in modern pentathlon – she was a swimmer for many years. The girl who started swimming in infancy was always very active. A trainee of well-known coaches Paulius Andrijauskas and Laurynas Svipas, she swam breaststroke and freestyle but always wanted to try other sports. Her mother suggested modern pentathlon.
“I knew about pentathlon, but I came to it because of a new discipline – the obstacle course. I am really active, I like climbing and have strong arms, so I thought it was worth trying. Pentathlon was a great choice because I love swimming very much, but I really wanted to try something else without straying too far from swimming,” recalls G. Pečiulytė.
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The pentathlete, who will celebrate her eighteenth birthday in October, competes not only with older pentathletes in the youth age group competitions but also with adults – this year she participated in one of the World Cup stages, and last year she debuted in Kaunas and at the World Championship.
“There really are no limits to when you can compete with adults, and fifteen-year-old Farida Khalil from Egypt is proof of that. My main goal is to win prize places in adult competitions because such a medal carries more weight,” says the trainee of Paulius Aleksandravičius without lacking ambition.
G. Pečiulytė has already finished this year’s season, and the next start for other Lithuanian pentathletes is the World Military Modern Pentathlon Championship to be held in Portugal from September 23–27.
