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The student of Viktoras Meškauskas covered the distance in 3 hours. 48 min. 24 sec. and not only did it meet the Tokyo Games standard (3 hours and 50 minutes), but it also improved Lithuania’s record.
Old Country Record – 3 pm 49 min. 30 seconds. – was also achieved in this Slovak city. It was recorded in 2008 by Donatas Škarnulis.
“It just came to our notice then. We went to the competition to fight for the Olympic norm and the Lithuanian record; we were very well prepared, so I wanted to achieve these two goals. Everything went well in the race, I easily passed 35 kilometers, 40 kilometers , and the difficulty was about 45 kilometers. And I realized that I complied with the Olympic norm and reached the Lithuanian record only after the finish, “said A. Mastianica.
The result achieved by the Lithuanian rider this year is the fourth in the world. Marian Zakalnicki from Ukraine (3 hours 46 minutes 28 seconds), Claudio Paulino Villanueva Flores from Ecuador (3 hours 47 minutes 56 seconds) and Bernardo U. Barrondo García from Guatemala, who triumphed in Dudinca (3 hours 47 min 1 second).
Another Lithuanian, Tadas Šuškevičius, who participated in the competition, crossed the finish line on the 25th (4 hours and 5 seconds).
A. Mastianica became one of the leaders of the Lithuanian team at the 2019 World Championship, finishing 15th in the 50km competition. So far, the best result of his career was achieved two years ago in the European Sport Walking Cup competition in Alytus, where he covered 50 km in 3 hours. 55 min. 40 sec.
“I wanted a Lithuanian record all the time. I wanted to achieve it last year, but there were no starts due to the pandemic. There were only two options left and today I took that opportunity, said Mr. Mastianica. – When it passes quickly, it sets several even bigger goals. and self-confidence all the time. Having achieved such a good result, I began to believe that I can fight with world leaders. “
True, at the end of last year, the Lithuanian athlete received unpleasant news from the International Olympic Committee: the 50 km sports walk will be removed from the Olympic Games program, so in Tokyo, cyclists will compete in this distance for the last time. .
At the European Marching Championships in May, A. Mastianica will start at a distance of 20 km, and in the 50 km race he will test his strength for the last time in his career in Tokyo.
“There is frustration (due to the eliminated match – Aut. Past), of course. Every year, my results in the 50 km distance kept increasing, but I will do nothing. There is only one beginning left: the Olympics. After that, we will try a 20 km race “, – A. Mastianica plans to return to training for a much shorter distance later this year.
M. Žiūkas also completed the Olympic ticket
The Slovak city of Dudincai brings success to Lithuania. On Saturday morning, the national record improved and the Olympic norm was met by Arturas Mastianica in the 50 km walking competition, and in the afternoon the 20 km walking competition, Marius Žiūkas joined the ranks of the Olympians. .
The 35-year-old Lithuanian athlete posted the second best result of his career, covering the distance in 1 hour. 20 minutes. 58 sec. The norm for the Tokyo Olympics is just two seconds lower. To this day, M. Žiūkas has applied to win a ticket to Tokyo according to the world athletics rankings: he is ranked 46th there and 60 tickets will be distributed.
“Looking at the results of the last competition, it seems that the classification is very insecure at the moment and the 60 places can be filled with standards. There was pressure, but I was confident because the training sessions were very well done, I didn’t feel any significant pain. The Lithuanian indoor championship showed that training pays off, the form is not bad. I imagined that ideally it is possible to try to meet the Olympic standard in this competition, but it all depends on how good you feel that day, ”said M. Žiūkas.
Gražina Goštautaitė’s student says that she controlled the situation on the track and did not lose faith in complying with the rule while walking the entire distance.
“I thought about the rule from the first kilometer, I followed the times of each kilometer. It was a bit worrying as the whole group started the first lap very slowly: the kilometer was covered in 4 minutes. 20 seconds, which is a loss of about 17 seconds of the normative tempo. That meant those seconds would have to be recovered somewhere. The pace picked up, I started going to the normative time and controlled the situation. The feeling in the end was nothing and it took a lot of work for every second. If I were behind the norm by 2-3 seconds, I would never forgive myself. Given that opportunity, it is necessary to take advantage of the here and now, “said M. Žiūkas.
The athlete finished 35th at the Beijing Olympics, 39th in London and 26th in Rio de Janeiro. The former team’s results continue to rise: at the 2019 World Championships in Qatar, he appeared as the best of the entire Lithuanian team, ranking 11th.
“The number of Olympics is really impressive, it shows a bit of stability, four games in a row. Larger pits and drops were avoided, and access to all games was achieved after complying with the norm. Even this time, when the The standard is very high. Of course, it is important not only to participate, you also want to perform your best, “smiled M. Žiūkas.
The winner of the competition was Andrés Eduardo Olivas Núñez from Mexico, who walked 20 km in 1 hour. 19 min. 54 sec. M. Žiūkas finished fifth, but became the best European.
By the way, both M. Žiūkas and A. Mastianica complied with the rules of the 2022 World Championship to be held in Eugene (USA).
In the 20 km women’s competition, Brigita Virbalytė, who completed the Olympic ticket last year, finished sixth (1 hour 31 minutes 29 seconds), Monika Vaiciukevičiūtė – 17 (1 hour 35 minutes 56 seconds), and Adrija Meškauskaitė – who achieved one record – 23 (1 hr 39 min 25 sec).
Seven Lithuanian athletes have already met the Tokyo Olympic standards: Andrius Gudžius (discus throw), Edis Matusevičius (javelin throw), Diana Zagainova (triple), runners Brigita Virbalytė, A. Mastianica, M. Žiūkas and graduate Živilė Vaiciukeviči.
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