The 34-year-old high jumper cleared the bar set at 175 cm at the Lithuanian Athletics Championship and surpassed all competitors.
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These were her first competitions after a break of almost two years – during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, A. Palšytė suffered a cruciate ligament injury and, having had to endure three operations, did not participate in official competitions for 721 days.
“The first step has been taken. The leg is still in place for now, and how it will react – I don’t know yet, but I am really proud of what I managed to do today,” A. Palšytė smiled on LRT after winning the Lithuanian championship.
She, like other participants, started her performance from a height of 160 cm and cleared the bar only slightly disturbing it, but later jumped more confidently, until finally she failed to clear 180 cm in three attempts.
“There was fear until the last attempt, I really couldn’t relax. The last thing I wanted was to come to the sector and not be able to jump. Step by step, whatever the result, it will only remain for the protocols, but for me, this is a huge achievement and still the title of Lithuanian champion,” rejoiced the athlete from Kaunas.
Did she feel any bad signals in her legs during her performance?
“For now, everything is not bad, and we will see what happens next. In fact, the most important thing was just to go out into the sector, and you have to start somewhere. Today’s result is what it is, I might have wanted more internally, but it is what it is – the beginning has been made. We know how it is in high jump, that you always clear it and the bar always rises. I hope it will be higher in other competitions,” said A. Palšytė.
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She smiled when asked about the heights the bars were set at – the Olympian had not jumped at such heights since her teenage years.
“We talked about it a day or two ago with the coach, that I don’t remember when I ever started a competition from such a low height. I might have been 13 or 14 years old. But you have to start somewhere. Anyway, you put the crown aside and just hope everything will be fine. Step by step, height by height, and you keep digging,” said the athlete.
She had previously mentioned in an interview with 15min that her guiding star is the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, which would be A. Palšytė’s fifth. She reiterated this after her performance at the Lithuanian Championship.
“There is that guiding star. Only four Olympic Games so far, so I want a fifth. That would show that I can lead and be among the elite for so long, and that would be very important to me. I don’t know how I will succeed, but my fingers are crossed and I really hope so,” said A. Palšytė.
We remind you that A. Palšytė became the Lithuanian champion for the twelfth time in her career.
- A. Palšytė also became the Lithuanian champion in 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, and 2024.
The best career result of the 2017 European Indoor Champion and four-time Olympic Games participant is 201 cm. This is also the Lithuanian national record.
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