2024-08-05 15:54:17
If the qualifying competition did not cause too many problems for the world record holder Mykol (he secured a place in the final with the second result), then his older brother Martyn had a bit more difficulty in the French capital.
The 23-year-old discus thrower threw the tool with a best attempt of 58.66m (58.34m, 57.53m 58.66m) and took the 15th place among the 16 participants of the first selection.
“The result is not the highest, perhaps the excitement got in the way. I am not satisfied. I’m happy to be at the Olympics, it’s a great achievement to be here, but it’s a shame that I couldn’t show what I can do. I felt a burden, I couldn’t fully relax”, said Martynas Alekna, who debuted at the Olympic Games, after the performance.
During the selection, all of his shots were on target, but the discus flew extremely high at the Stade de France. According to the athlete, this was one of the reasons for the unsuccessful performance.
“Technique… The shots were just too high, the excitement got in the way,” he said.
In this “Stade de France” stadium, Martyn’s father Virgilius became the world champion for the first time (69.69 m) 21 years ago, in 2003. V. Alekna also owns the Olympic record, when the two-time Olympic champion threw the discus at 69.89 m at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
The Aleknai family dynasty also owns the world record – Martyn’s younger brother Mykolas improved it in the spring of this year, when he threw the discus 74.35 in the competition held in the USA. This is how the best result on the planet, which has not been moved for more than 30 years, fell.
It was Mykolas Alekna who confidently beat the qualifying final standard (66 m) in the second attempt at the selection on Monday and threw the discus 67.47 m. According to this result, the Lithuanian had no equal.
After the successful attempt, the younger brother tried to encourage Martynas.
“Mykolas tried to motivate, but failed. It’s just… Not my day today.
I am very happy for him. Good luck to him in the final”, continued Martynas Alekna.
Staying behind the 60 m mark, the athlete was far from his best season (66.59 m) and personal (67.23 m) result.
After completing all three qualifying shots, Martyn sat down on the bench and kept his eyes on one point for a while.
“It was just very unfortunate. So much work was put in and it didn’t work out,” sighed the discus thrower.
However, he considered his debut appearance at the Paris Olympic Games as a good experience: “There will be a world championship, we will prepare for it. I gained sports experience, next time I will be even braver.”
We remind you that the third Lithuanian discus thrower Andrius Gudžius entered the fight for the final in the second part of the selection. The 33-year-old from Kaunas showed the tenth result and will compete in the final.
The Olympic discus final will be held on Wednesday at 9 p.m. 30 minutes Lithuanian time.
The Paris Olympic Games take place from July 26 to August 11, and you can follow their progress and the hottest comments from athletes lrytas.lt portal.
2024-08-05 15:54:17