With tears in his eyes: Lithuanian rower ranks fourth at the Olympics: sadness and miracle

The Lithuanians were third after 500 m, but after covering half the distance (2000 m in total), the representatives of our country were overtaken by Dutch rowers. M. Valčiukaitė and D. Karalienė scrambled on their heels almost to the finish line, however they were unable to overtake them.

The Lithuanians took just 1.71 seconds off the Tokyo Olympic bronze medals. In Final A, the Lithuanian doubles beat the representatives of the United States and Canada.

The duo of M. Valčiukaitė and D. Queen at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games enjoyed a place on the podium. This time the Lithuanians won bronze medals.

“It just came to our attention then. Sadness. It seems that we have fought, we thought we had a chance. The fourth place is so awkward. Something was missing, perhaps we did not do something, – said M. Valčiukaitė. – On the other hand, that fourth place is quite high in the Olympics. Where we were a year ago is probably a miracle of what we did. “

When asked if a year ago, when her partner Ieva Adomavičiūtė was disqualified for doping, she would have believed she would row in the final of the Games, Milda replied to the truffle: “A year ago, I didn’t even know if I would walk.” We remind you that at that time M. Valčiukaitė was being treated for a back injury and was forced to lie down on an operating table.

The Queen did not comment on the wrestling channel, but simply thanked the support.

“In addition to the extensive interviews, I would like to thank everyone who believed, stood up, clenched their fists, crossed their fingers. And for those who rejoice, the support continues. Thank you to all of Lithuania, ”said the rower, who ended her career after the Rio Games, became a mother of twins and decided to return to big sports just six months ago.

Did the Olympians receive messages of support from Lithuania?

“It just came to our knowledge then. We know that the nation, relatives, friends are sick, here is our great team. They are all dedicated to that work, it is not the words of support that are needed,” said M. Valčiukaitė .

The gold medals were won by Romanian favorites Ancuta Bodnar and Simona Radis (6 min. 41.03 sec.), Who achieved the best result of this class of boats in the history of the Olympic Games. Olympic silver went to New Zealand’s Brooke Donoghu and Hannah Osborne (6: 44.82) and bronze went to Dutch duo Roos de Jong and Lisa Scheenaard (6: 45.73).

Saulius Ritter and Aurimas Adomavičius were the last to finish the distance in 6 minutes in the final B of the double-doubles teams on Wednesday by 7-12 places. 20.87 seconds In the final classification, he remained in twelfth place.

“It just came to our attention then. We gave our all. The result is as it is. We want to get the best we can, because we also need to learn something from the defeat. The rivals were stronger, we have to admit it,” Ritter said after the end. .

The vice-champion of the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games stated that the results were not really affected by the change of partner: “Aurimas is a great athlete and really strong. I want to be glad I started with him. 5 years have passed. What we were prepared for today, we have shown. Time would always like more, but we don’t look back. Here at the Olympics, the rivals were very strong. It is a great honor to fight here. “

Dominykas Jančionis, Dovydas Nemeravičius, Martynas Džiaugys and Armandas Kelmelis were last in the doubles quadruple B final by 7-10 places. The Lithuanians covered the distance in 5 minutes. 51.64 seconds, overtaking Chinese, German and Norwegian crews.

Only Mindaugas Griškonis alone was left to compete on the Olympic channel. On Sunday, in the 2000 quarterfinals, the Lithuanian won in 7 minutes. 16.71 seconds and ranked third among six competitors. He will compete for a place in the final on Thursday at 5 pm Lithuanian time.