The “Arkadija” Riga Cups indoors” took place for the first time in December 2022, but in the next season they took place a month later in January 2024. This year, this popular and strong competition will take place for the third time and again in mid-January. This year, “Arkadija” Riga Cup Indoors” will be the largest and most prestigious indoor athletics competition in Latvia, gathering high-level athletes. It is also one of the most important in the Baltic region. This year, a lot of attention will be paid to the men’s 60 sprint and pole vault, where the Latvian record could fall.
As before, “Sports schools “Arkādija” Riga Cup in premises 2025″ includes both cup disciplines and Promo disciplines. There are a total of six cup disciplines – three for men and three for women. As in 2024, both will have two events in common – 60m sprint and long jump, but the final discipline of the third cup will be pole vault for men and 60m hurdle sprint for women.
At the Riga Cup, we will see athletes from six countries. All Baltic countries will be represented, as well as Germany, Ukraine and Singapore. As before, the organizers, with the support of supporters, will provide cash prizes to the prize winners of all cup disciplines. In addition to the cash prize fund, a bonus will also be paid for breaking the Latvian indoor record in the adult age group.
The most intense battles and also high-quality results will certainly be seen in the men’s 60m sprint. Among the participants will be the 4th place winner of the 2022 World Championships, the 7th place winner of the 2021 European Championships and the Estonian record holder Karl Eriks Nazarov, who has run in 6.55 seconds. The two winners of the previous two times have also qualified – Roberts Jānis Zālītis, the winner of the first place in 2022 and this season’s leader in Latvia (6.79 sec.) and Adas Dambrauskas, who set the manege and Lithuanian junior record last year (6.64 sec.). Five of the participants have run faster than 6.80 seconds, and three have run faster than 6.70 seconds.
Meanwhile, in the pole vault, 8 participants have jumped over 5m and four pairs over 5.30m, Valters Kreišs from Arcadia, who won the title of Athletics Athlete of the Year for the second year in a row, who reached the finals at the Olympic Games last year, winning 12th place, will be the clear favorite again U23 record holder. After winning the track and field athlete of the year title on January 9, Kreiš said that he was aiming for the Latvian record, which could also be achieved. His fiercest competitor will be the 2024 European champion and 2024 World Indoor Championship bronze medalist in the decathlon, Johannes Erms from Estonia, who finished 6th at the Olympic Games in Paris last year.
The long jump also promises to be interesting, where four men have jumped between 7.50m and 8m, and four women have jumped 6.20m and beyond. The main favorite for the men will be the 4th place winner of the 2022 World Championship and the medalist of the 2015 World Youth Championship, Hans Kristians Hausenberg from Estonia, and for the women, the national champion Kitty Paula Gailum from “Arkadija”, who will face fierce competition from last year’s European U18 triple jump champion Brenda Điliana Apsīte and other Latvian and Lithuanian athletes who have jumped over 6m.
RSS “Arkādija” director Jurģis Grants: “I would like to create a high-level athletics competition in Riga. Together with the organizing team, it has been successful. In my opinion, we have made a great contribution to the development of athletics in Riga and Latvia. We also receive good feedback from foreign athletes, which motivates us to develop this competition at an even higher level.”
Those interested in athletics are invited on Thursday evening, starting at 5:00 p.m. (women’s pole vault at 4:00 p.m.), at the Riga Sports Arena of the Riga Sports School “Arkādija” to watch the exciting competition in person. Entrance is free.