2024-08-05 13:29:40
The 21-year-old discus thrower, who made his debut at the Olympic Games on Monday morning in the legendary deafening 75,000-seat Stade de France, entered the sector with a stony face and returned from it. The excitement and emotions that often shock debutants are put aside.
There was no excitement when the first throw turned into a mistake – the disc slipped from my hands.
Soon, M. Alekna returned to the sector completely calmly and secured a place in the final – she threw the discus 67.47 m, when the selection norm is 66 m. This is the best result in qualifying group A.
“Good competition. The first attempt was not very successful, but I didn’t stress it and I managed to achieve a good result in the second”, said M. Alekna calmly to herself as usual.
He says that he understood for himself what he was doing wrong and why the first throw turned into an “X”. There was no need for advice from coaches or special attempts to calm down.
“Sometimes it happens, so I don’t take it seriously. One out of 15 can do this, and the rest will all be fine. I wasn’t worried about that, he said. – Then you think of the second throw as the first. That’s all there is to that psychology.”
He didn’t need to do the third one. That’s what M. Alekna was aiming for: “The second was a safe throw, so that you don’t have to throw again.”
Aleknai’s name shined on the scoreboard of the impressive 80,000-seat Stade de France, where two fantastic results recorded by father and son were noted. Mykolas – world record holder (74.35 m), Virgilijus Alekna – Olympic record holder (69.89 m).
For a couple of years now, the family name has been shining again in media headlines, in people’s speech, and most importantly, in hearts. 21-year-old M. Alekna is coming to the Paris Olympic Games already with the hope of Olympic medals.
The first discus thrower, Ieva Gumbs, who appeared a couple of days ago, said that she had to use earplugs because of the deafening sound – that’s when she threw the discus the farthest, even though she didn’t make it to the finals.
“The loudest I’ve ever heard, but I didn’t need it,” said M. Alekna, not hiding that he didn’t notice the great attention being paid to him. “No, I didn’t.”
Mykolos’ brother Martynas Alekna also participated in the A selection. The competition ended for the latter – he threw the discus 58.34 m, 57.53 m, 58.66 m. In selection A, he was second to last and surpassed only the German Henrik Janssen, who failed to record a single result.
“He won’t be happy. I followed, but it is as it is. The first Olympics – a lot awaits. In the sector, there are not many people who communicate – they stay with themselves and that’s it,” said Mykolas about his brother.
Everyone understands that M. Alekna came to the Olympic Games not just to get to the finals. The whole of Lithuania expects medals from him. Mykolas himself is also thinking about them, although he has said before that he does not put pressure on himself.
But Lithuanians look at the numbers and are already thinking – gold, silver or bronze will add to the collection of the Aleknai dynasty and which medal will start the friendly duel between father and son.
V. Alekna has three Olympic medals on her account – the gold of the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Games and the bronze of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
He also has 4 world (2 gold, 2 silver) and 3 European (1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze) medals.
Mykolas comes to the Olympics already having 2 world (1 silver, 1 bronze) and two European (1 gold, 1 bronze) championship medals.
“I try not to emphasize the excitement, as before every competition. I try to look at the Olympics as a simple competition and everything will be fine”, said M. Alekna and added that he liked the sector very much and felt comfortable.
M. Alekna was surprised by the fact that the Swedish Olympic champion Daniel Stahl with the longest attempt (65.18 m) was sixth.
“Very strong results this year. There are 5-6 shots that are capable of winning gold,” he said.
M. Alekna’s final awaits on Wednesday. Now his plan is very simple: “I will rest, in the morning I will do a light workout in the barbell.”
And after training – food and sleep on cardboard beds. Here M. Alekna had time to prepare.
“The beds are normal – we also brought extra mattresses,” he said.
In selection A, three athletes fulfilled the qualification standard without M. Alekna. 28-year-old Australian Matthew Denny threw the discus 66.83m. 32-year-old Austrian Lukas Weishaidinger – 66.72.
Lithuania’s Andrius Gudžius will compete in selection B.
12 athletes make it to the finals of the Olympic Games. This can be done either after passing the qualifying standard – 66 m – or if the place is not filled, you can enter with the best result.
Favorite four
In the discus throwing sector of the Olympic Games, the weight of expectations falls not only on M. Alekna’s shoulders. Here, the main focus falls on the four discus throwers, which means that there will not be enough space for someone on the podium.
The 25-year-old Slovenian K. Čeh, who is coached by V. Alekna’s eternal rival and friend, the gold winner of the Beijing Games and the bronze medalist of the London Games, the Estonian Gerdas Kanteris, was fifth in the Tokyo Games, but later we constantly saw his name among the winners.
He won gold at the World Championships in Eugene and silver in Budapest. He won silver at the European Championships in Munich and gold in Rome.
K. Čech’s personal best result is 71.86 m. The farthest he threw the discus this season was 70.48m.
The surname of 31-year-old Swede Daniel Stahl is also well known to Lithuanians. The Tokyo Games champion is not going to back down and showed it at the 2023 European Championships when he won the gold. True, he finished fourth at the 2024 European Championship.
His best result is 71.86. The farthest he threw the discus this season was 68.99.
This list also includes the 32-year-old Austrian discus star Lukas Weishaidinger. He won bronze at the Tokyo Games, and won silver at the European Championships in Rome last year. His best result is 70.68 m, this season the farthest he threw the discus was 69.04 m.
Lithuania
M. Alekna is not alone at the Paris Olympic Games. His brother, 23-year-old Martynas Alekna, is also competing here. His personal best is 66.66. This season, the discus was thrown the farthest by 66.33m.
Also – 33-year-old Andrius Gudžius. The 2017 World and 2018 European champion has something to prove – A. Gudžius was sixth at the Tokyo Games and described this result with the phrase “I’m done”.
He was sixth at the 2022 European Championships in Munich. He also took sixth place at the World Championship in Budapest in 2023. This year, he was seventh in the European Championship held before the Olympics in Rome.
A. Gudžia’s best result is 69.59 years. This season, the discus was thrown the farthest by 66.57 m.
2024-08-05 13:29:40