„We specifically chose locations that would be favorable precisely for our athletes. For example, organizing in Vilnius would be simpler, but here – the hills are too big, which is not convenient for us, because the Czechs or Swiss who come here outrun the Lithuanians,“ shared the championship director Vilius Aleliūnas at the press conference held on Friday.
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– We looked for as many nettles as possible, so that running would be slower, more difficult, so that negative relief forms would appear – we did everything so that our athletes would really feel at home.“
„This will be a historic championship for Lithuania,“ continued V. Aleliūnas. „Exactly 20 years ago, the World Junior Championship took place in the same Dzūkija forests, which gave a huge boost to Lithuanian orienteering. I hope it will be the same this time, because we have a very young team. I myself started exactly at that championship 20 years ago, and later represented Lithuania 16 times, including this year’s world championships. The fact is, I would like to run here too, but I cannot be both organizer and participant. I definitely sweat no less (laughs).“
- Women: Miglė Činčikaitė, Margarita Dienytė, Aušrinė Kutkaitė, Gabija Rimkutė, Gabija Stankevičiūtė, Emilija Tamoševičiūtė, Judita Traubaitė, Saulė Traubaitė, Gabija Ražaitytė, Deimantė Motiejūnaitė.
- Men: Rokas Barauskas, Tadas Dementavičius, Tijus Jokubauskis, Domas Juknevičius, Dovydas Kaušakys, Rokas Lipnickas, Kevinas Olišauskis, Tautvydas Rimkus, Kasparas Murėnas, Gytis Nakvosas.
Probably the brightest Lithuanian star is 26-year-old Judita Traubaitė, who participated in this year’s Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics as a biathlete, but has now returned briefly to orienteering.
„It feels like home here,“ said J. Traubaitė, who will participate in the championship with her sister Saulė. „As soon as I found out that a championship of this level would be held in Lithuania, there was no doubt that I would want to try to get into the team.“
„Of course, we feel additional responsibility as hosts, because expectations are high, but I believe we will be able to surprise not only the spectators but also ourselves. We were able to prepare exceptionally well,“ added one of the men’s team leaders, 22-year-old Tautvydas Rimkus. „Orienteering in the Baltic countries is really specific. Foreigners often face certain difficulties – flatter terrain, limited visibility.“
„The competition itself will take place in the Lazdijai district, but everyone will live in Druskininkai. The budget is almost half a million. The state’s share is 159 thousand euros. All other funds are own or from sponsors,“ counted V. Aleliūnas.
„I maybe hoped that the local government would contribute a bit more in that region, but I blame no one. Overall, deviating a bit, I am against subsidizing the same LKL clubs from local government, because local government should care about sports and physical activity, and we are talking about professional sports, with TV broadcasts, so we must attract sponsors.“
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„Speaking about the goals set, in recent years we have experienced a generational change. However, the last World Cup stage showed that in the women’s relay Aušrinė Kutkaitė and J. Traubaitė can achieve high results. After two stages, they were third. I don’t want to set very big tasks. In individual events, top twenty for the best – because more than 130 women and more than 170 men will start, and in relays, I would be more than satisfied with a top six, but a top ten would also be good,“ said V. Aleliūnas, emphasizing that athletes from aggressor countries will not participate in the competitions.
„The values of orienteering are the strongest. There are not many such sports left, but we are among those who do not allow representatives of aggressor countries. They will not be here or in any international competitions.“
„So I suggest not to miss the unique opportunity to finally find out what orienteering is. To see what high-level athletes compete here, because this is by no means tourism. Finally, it will be possible to turn on the TV and see what it really is,“ rejoiced V. Aleliūnas.
– Although they train in the competition area, athletes only receive the map just before the start, which shows the control points. They must collect them in order, and the winner is the one who does it the fastest. No one ever knows exactly what awaits. Athletes run through swamps, nettles, paths, and have different tactics. The most unique thing in our sport is that it requires not only physical preparation but also maximum concentration in the head. If you relax, you immediately make a mistake.
Of course, we also have challenges. As you know, last month the weather mischiefs, storms, caused trouble in Dzūkija. Trees were bent, and maps in our sport are extremely precise, marking every fallen object. We had to redraw all the maps. In total, the mapmaker spent almost 800 hours doing this, which cost several thousand. A person has to physically walk through that 16 sq. km area and mark everything.
Another challenge is weather danger. We saw what happened during the Vilnius marathon. There are not many shelters in those areas, but we are preparing, have a special person, an evacuation plan. We have coordinated everything because this is not basketball. If it is red, the competition of that day will have to be stopped and canceled – unfortunately, we will not be able to resume them. God willing, that will not happen. Athletes from other countries are definitely anxiously writing us letters, especially after the last drone was shot down, but we are ready.“
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