On Wednesday morning at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, the Vilnius native ran 51.64 seconds and was the first Lithuanian in this championship to improve her personal season record – smashing it by more than a second.
Although M.J. Morauskaitė finished fourth in her race, it was so fast that only one athlete in the previous heats outran the Lithuanian. Among 19 contenders, she took 5th place and secured a guaranteed ticket to Thursday’s semifinals.
Understand instantly
The European 400 m leaders did not have to run in the qualification. They will join directly from the semifinals.
“I am insanely happy!” – the sprinter beamed with joy behind the scenes.
– I came with huge self-confidence. The last training sessions showed that my form is very, very good. I knew I was ready to run a very good result. I just had to believe in myself and show that belief on the track. I ran confidently, without any doubts, uncertainties, or irrational self-doubts. I believed there would be a semifinal.”
“It has been a very difficult season so far…” – continued M.J. Morauskaitė, who was also held back by an injury this year. – The results showed that. I also lacked self-confidence. That spark of confidence… It was kind of scary to run fast, doubts were swirling in my head, even though my body seemed fine – healthy and with good training. We know very well that psychology has a huge impact in sports.
I am very happy that today that spark of disbelief went out and a huge fire of self-confidence ignited (smiles).”
Understand instantly
M.J. Morauskaitė is the fastest Lithuanian woman to run 400 m – 50.49 in 2022.
Her best result this season was 52.66 seconds.
In European championships, she placed 27th in 2014 in Zurich (55.87 sec.), 18th in 2018 in Munich (52.68 sec.), and in 2022 again in Munich and 2024 in Rome ran in the semifinals, finishing respectively 13th (51.70 sec.) and 23rd (52.95 sec.).
“I felt I was running fast. I knew I couldn’t give up until the last centimeter and couldn’t decide who would win – regardless of my position. Right after finishing, I saw the winner’s time – 50.83 sec. I realized my time would be good too, as there wasn’t a huge gap. I thought at least 52 seconds, then I see – 51.64 sec. Just joy in my heart and an indescribably good feeling,” continued the sprinter.
– Dreaming of a personal record (which is better by more than a second, – note) is always very important, but you also have to be realistic. It might seem theoretically not so far anymore, but everyone who does sports knows that as results improve, it becomes harder to better that time.
But I know I have run enough for my body to be able. My brain can too. I think it’s just a matter of time, and the Olympics are still far away.”
However, first there is still the semifinal, which will take place tomorrow.
“I am very glad I will have time to recover. The goal will be the same – to perform as well as possible. If possible – even better. The dream is always to make it to the final, but we’ll see how it goes. I am still insanely happy with what I have already done in this championship,” beamed M.J. Morauskaitė, who just a week ago said this to her fiancé Ernestas Leskauskas, head of the “Cosma” club.
– The fact is that this result is not only my or my coach’s merit. Although athletics is an individual sport, there is always a group of people behind the athlete. Support from loved ones.
Ernestas supported me at all stages. Both when I was at the absolute emotional and physical bottom, and when I was at the top. Sometimes you don’t even need to say anything – just be there, hug. He never stopped believing in me.”
