The Lithuanian four-man kayak added to the Olympic ranking points. In the final of the 500 m four-man kayak distance, Simonas Maldonis, Viktoras Čaplinskij, Ignas Navakauskas, and Artūras Seja took 6th place.
Read more “Bolt Drive” – important change: drivers need to know this
The Lithuanians, who covered the distance in 1 min 26.01 sec, overtook the teams from Poland, Spain, and Denmark in the final. The world champions were the Germans, the Australians won silver, and the Portuguese took bronze. The Serbs finished fourth, the Hungarians fifth.
The Lithuanians lost to the world champions by 2.06 seconds, and they were only 0.48 seconds away from a prize-winning place.
“For us, sixth place is like a spell. For several years in a row, we have mostly been accompanied by sixth place. I don’t know if it’s a curse or a blessing, because when you get three or four sixth places, something has to follow,” said S. Maldonis, who rows at the front of the four-man kayak that also took 6th place at this year’s European Championship.
“The Olympic year is approaching, and we are maintaining our positions and increasingly chasing prize places. Today we fell a little short. The fight was until the last meters, and the opponents were separated by invisible delays to the eye. Therefore, after the finish, there was a mixed feeling. At first, we seemed to be happy, but then we were disappointed because we were only 0.01 seconds away from fifth place.”
Lithuanian kayakers and canoeists will compete in two more world championship finals.
On Saturday evening, A. Seja will participate in the final of the single kayak 200 m event.
Henrikas Žustautas and Vadimas Korobovas dramatically made it to the final on Sunday. In the semifinal of the 500 m double canoe distance, the Lithuanians crossed the finish line in 1 min 40.27 sec and took 3rd place. The three fastest canoes qualified for the final and will continue to compete for world championship medals.
Read more Do you start sneezing after a hearty lunch? You will be surprised why this happens
Halfway through the distance, H. Žustautas and V. Korobovas were only sixth, but after an impressive finish, they managed to break into the top three. The Olympic champion Czech Martin Fuksa and his brother Petr, who were behind the Lithuanians, were only 0.01 seconds behind.
“I wouldn’t call it a miracle. We fought until the last centimeter. At the beginning of the distance, we usually fall behind, but we come back from behind and sometimes catch up with the opponents’ advantage, sometimes not. We worked until the last stroke and at the finish pushed our canoe’s nose a little ahead and got into the final,” commented H. Žustautas.
“Right after the finish, we didn’t even know which place we took because it was separated by one hundredth of a second. That’s really 2-3 centimeters. You don’t even feel that. It’s nice to get into the final also because the Czechs we overtook are one of our main competitors fighting for a place in the Olympic Games.”
Two other Lithuanian crews failed to reach the world championship final.
In the 500 m double kayak competition, S. Maldonis and Andrejus Olijnikas covered the distance in 1 min 32.78 sec in the semifinal and took 7th place. The three fastest doubles qualified for the final. The Lithuanians will compete in the C final for places 19-27.
World championship debutants Danielius and Dovydas Gauriai, Lukas Kybartas, and Adas Stefanovičius ended their fight in the semifinal. The Lithuanian crew crossed the finish line in the 500 m four-man canoe distance in 1 min 48 sec and took 5th place. The three fastest four-man crews qualified for the final.
Read more After the storm, 30 thousand users in Lithuania still do not have electricity
