2024-07-27 14:31:28
The selection of athletes for the Olympic Games ended at the end of June with the national championships. Before the Latvian championships in Valmiera, calculations showed that Rūta Kate needs to jump about 14.15 meters in order to collect enough points to get a ticket to Paris. His only chance was 13.74 meters and it seemed that he failed to qualify. However, several triple jumpers cannot participate in Paris due to injuries, which gave the ticket to the Latvian, who initially remained second over the line.
“It was possible to get the necessary result in Valmiera, however, at the beginning of the outdoor season, I got sick and had to miss a month, which is not insignificant in athletics – if, being in the best shape, you are prevented from training for a month, it has consequences. That’s why I didn’t start in the Latvian championship as I wanted and as I should have, but thank you that the stars aligned in my favor. After the start, I was upset because I was hoping and preparing for a better result, I was able to do it. Simply, for the result to be as desired, absolutely everything has to come together,” says Ruta Kate Lasmane.
The 23-year-old athlete jumped 14.47 meters at the US college or NCAA winter season this season, achieving Latvia’s best indoor result of all time. However, since since this year there is no difference in athletics jumping and shot put disciplines – records are achieved indoors or outdoors -, the Latvian record is 14.76 meters, which was achieved by Gundega Sproģe in 1997 at the stadium in Sheffield. It is significant that Lasmane’s second farthest attempt in this championship was 14.24, and she has not been able to fly that far in other competitions in her career either.
“Getting to the final in Paris would be great. The results are very high quality, the world’s best athletes meet here. At the NCAA Indoor Championships, I was able to do what I couldn’t believe at first even when I saw the result in one jump. So I know I have it in me, I can do it. However, this is my first Olympic Games and it will be a big test to deal with nerves. I’m trying not to perceive this moment as so big and worrying, so I’ll say that I’m just pleasantly worried,” says the triple jumper, predicting that 14.47 meters would definitely give her a place in the Olympic finals.
And she is right. Three years ago in Tokyo, in order to enter the final 12, it was necessary to jump 14.21 meters in the qualification, in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro it was enough to jump 14.08 meters, and four years before that in London – 14.16 meters.
As soon as it became clear that the Olympic Games had been reached, Ruth Kate Lassman went to the USA, where she trained at the Texas Technological University, or Texas Tech, under the guidance of her coach, Keith Hurston. She spent less than three weeks there and arrived in Paris on Thursday straight from North America. “The fact that the coach could be by my side every day and correct the nuances was very important this time. We managed to fix some technical things and I am very happy about that. It seems that I managed to put the right accents together in this small period of time. I don’t want to say anything ahead of time, but I think it will be… I feel good,” Ruta Kate Lasmane does not want to make hasty predictions.
At a time when in the sports village of Paris Sports Newspaper talked to Ruta Kati, she hadn’t even met her brother there yet, she just greeted him from the balcony when he was going to training with the 3×3 team. “It was quite a long way from the USA, so right after arrival there is fatigue, but I feel that there is a magical atmosphere here in the Olympic Village. It’s still hard to grasp all of this – there would be so many emotions to take in, but I don’t have the energy for it yet. I will wake up on Friday with new strength and everything will become clearer,” concluded the Olympic debutante. “Three years ago, when my brother came home from the Olympics with gold, our family was interviewed and told straight away that we would meet at the next Olympics. It’s a surreal feeling that it’s come true, we’re here together. Great.”
There are now three Olympians in the Lasmani family, because in 1992 and 1996, Kārļis and Rūta’s father, Uģis, competed in academic rowing. On the other hand, if more distant relatives are also included, in 2012, Ruth’s cousin Lauma Grieva long jumped in London.
“I really want to see the 3×3 national team matches and be with them. My mother is already in tears when I go to the USA, the parents will have a lot of gray hair in these weeks,” said Ruta, admitting that the parents will not attend the Olympic Games in person. “After the games, we’ll still enjoy time together before I go to the USA again,” emphasizes the athlete, who will start her fourth year of studies in Texas in the fall.
Ruta Kate Lasmane will make her Olympic debut with the triple jump qualification just a week later on August 2. Meanwhile, the 3×3 basketball team will play the first of seven games of the main tournament on Tuesday against Lithuania, which has progressed rapidly in recent years.
Follow the reports from the Paris Olympic Games Sports Newspapers on social networks (also in the stories section), but look for the July magazine, which extensively covered the Latvian Olympic team, in the best press outlets.
2024-07-27 14:31:28