Sixth place in the qualifiers and a ticket to the semifinals along with the 13 fastest.
Understand instantly
The European 200 m sprint leaders did not run in the qualifiers. They will join directly from the semifinals, which will take place on Thursday evening.
The fastest in the qualifiers were Italian Filippo Dezza (20.60 sec.), German Joshua Hartmann (20.61 sec.), and Latvian Oskars Grava (20.69 sec.).
G. Truskauskas is the Lithuanian record holder in this event, having run 200 meters in 20.48 sec. five years ago.
This year he most likely ran at the end of June in Jerusalem – 20.59 sec.
“A pleasant run. I really felt good both in my body and overall. Fun competition, comfortable track – eighth, not a great second or third,” the sprinter rejoiced backstage at the “Alexander” stadium in Birmingham.
– The goal was to get to the semifinals. Maybe I hoped for a slightly better result, about 0.10–0.15 sec., but it is what it is. The most important thing is that I achieved the initial goal, and in the semifinals we will try to improve the result, of course, as much as possible. Of course, the competition will definitely not be any less, but that acts as a certain incentive. We are looking forward to the evening.”
For G. Truskauskas, this is the fourth European Championship. In his debut in 2018, he finished 20th (21.11 sec.), in 2022 – 21st (21.05 sec.), and in 2024 – 15th (20.86 sec.).
“With each start, I gain experience. And with that, it’s easier to handle the stress, but there are always other factors – how you feel, how well you can show your athletic form that day. Can you reach your maximum? But experience definitely helps – it’s not a debut, as they say,” continued G. Truskauskas.
– I saw that after 150 m I was first. I didn’t want to celebrate too early, but I also didn’t want to tense up. Speed drops at the end anyway, but sometimes it drops even more, so I didn’t want to lose technique. I saw that the position was good. Of course, when you start in lane 8, that’s how it is.”
“The expectation for the evening would be a season record. A personal best – that would be perfect, a fairy tale, better than good. I don’t want to promise anything yet. First of all, I would like to run simply faster in the semifinals than in the qualifiers. Of course, I will try to catch at least my best season result.”
