VDU, which took fourth place among 171 university medals, won 7 awards – 2 gold, 2 silver, and 3 bronze medals. Ahead of VDU in the university ranking were the University of Zagreb (Croatia), which took first place, Zamolski Academy (Poland) in second place, and the University of Strasbourg (France) in third place.
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The medals won by VDU are the only awards for Lithuanian representatives at the European University Games. This resulted in Lithuania taking sixth place in the country medal ranking among 31 countries.
Badminton player Viltė Paulauskaitė won the gold medal, defeating Rachel Sugden from the University of Glasgow Strathclyde (Scotland) 2:0 (21:13, 21:13) in the badminton singles final and becoming the European champion.
“I am glad that I had the opportunity to participate in the European University Games and represent my university. These games left very good impressions – it was fun to compete in both team and individual events and to be part of such a big event. I am very happy to have won the gold medal in the singles event and the bronze medal in the women’s doubles and to contribute to promoting the university’s name with my results,” shared V. Paulauskaitė.
The VDU 3×3 women’s basketball team, consisting of Eglė Kisarauskaitė, Miglė Kisarauskaitė, Eva Pernavaitė, and Martyna Petrėnaitė, also won the title of European champions. This team defeated the University of Ljubljana from Slovenia 22:13 in the final of the games.
Martyna Petrėnaitė, who led the VDU team to victory, was not only the top scorer of the tournament but also became the most valuable basketball player of the EUSA European University Games and was included in the top three players of the competition.
“I am extremely proud of the girls, the team, and everyone who contributed. Since last year, I definitely felt the bitterness of defeat, but this year we became champions, and all the hard work paid off,” rejoiced M. Petrėnaitė.
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The VDU women’s volleyball team also recorded a historic achievement by becoming vice-champions of the Old Continent. In the final, after a tough fight, they lost 1:3 (15:25, 12:25, 25:22, 19:25) to the multiple champions from the University of Bologna (Italy). This VDU silver medal is the first women’s volleyball award in the history of Lithuanian higher education institutions’ participation in EUSA games and championships.
VDU’s tally was further enriched with another silver medal won by Mariia Koriahina and Anna Kovalenko in the badminton doubles category.
All three bronze medals were also won by representatives of the badminton sport. In the singles category, bronze medals were won by Samanta Golubickaitė and M. Koriahina, while in the doubles category, the bronze award went to S. Golubickaitė and V. Paulauskaitė.
The European University Games are the largest European student sports event held every two years, where the elite of student sports meet. This year, 3,889 athletes participated in the event, competing in thirteen different sports.
In total, VDU delegated 31 athletes to the European University Student Games, representing the university in five sports – 3×3 basketball, badminton, beach and indoor volleyball, and table tennis.
However, this is not the last appearance of VDU students in the Old Continent championships. From August 26–29, VDU rowers will participate in the European Student Championship in Zagreb (Croatia), and from September 8–16, VDU judo athletes will compete in the European Student Martial Arts Championships planned in Tirana (Albania).
