Werloc

Stahl has a pretty decent chance too

Multitasking at its best, won't need to stand in line for the showers after the race.

Let's pretend there's no Duplantis then Sweden's chances to leave these championships without a medal were extremely low

Good day! If anybody is looking for some European time zone friendly athletics action, then look no further than this. Today and tomorrow in Vilnius we're having our annual Baltic U18 & U20 championships, where Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have to put forward two athletes into every competition and the points are tallied for every event. The broadcast is not in English, but often I just watch and have music playing in the background For quite a few athletes, this is the final competition in preparation for the World U20 championships and for others, a start before the European Youth olympic festival. Starts in less than 30 minutes

Portugal used to be somewhat of a powerhouse as well, plus there's Palmisano from Italy, I just don't know why she's not here, but I can only assume an injury.

Honestly weird overperformance from Katarzyna with no prior honours even in European level. Makes me sad that so many Lithuanians were not able to replicate this success having so many good athletes in the past, Brigita Virbalytė and Živilė Vaiciukevičiūtė came closest with 4th and 5th in ECH 2018.

[hide] Event & Date Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Women's 20km Race Walk Day 1 July 15th 2022 Jemima Montag Liu Hong X Ma Li Ma Zhenxia X Qieyang Shijie X Any Athlete from Ecuador Valentina Trapletti Nanako Fujii Kumiko Okada Any Mexican Athlete Kimberly Garcia Leon Maria Perez Any Other Athlete Men's 20km Race Walk Day 1 July 15th 2022 Caio Bonfim Ciu Lihong Wang Kaihua Zhang Jun Brian Daniel Pintado David Kenny Francesco Fortunato Koki Ikeda X Eiki Takahashi X Any Other Japanese Athlete Alberto Amezcua Diego Garcia Carrera Alvaro Martin Perseus Karlstrom X Any Other Athlete Mixed 4x400m Day 1 July 15th 2022 Belgium Brazil Dominican Republic Great Britain Italy Jamaica X Netherlands X Poland X Spain United States Any Other Nation Men's Hammer Throw Day 2 July 16th 2022 Quentin Bigot Christos Frantzeskakis Bence Halasz Diego Del Real Serghei Marghiev Eivind Henriksen Pawel Fajdek X Wojciech Nowicki X Javier Cienfuegos Mykhaylo Kokhan Daniel Haugh Rudy Winkler X Any Other Athlete Women's 10,000m Day 2 July 16th 2022 Francine Niyonsaba Rahel Daniel Letesenbet Gidey X Bosena Mulate Ejgayehu Taye Eilish McColgan X Any Japanese Athlete Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi X Sheila Chepkirui Kiprotich Hellen Obiri Caroline Chepkoech Kipkirui Sifan Hassan Dominique Scott Alicia Monson Karissa Schweizer Any Other Athlete Men's Long Jump Day 2 July 16th 2022 Christopher Mitrevski LaQuan Nairn Any Chinese Athlete Maykel Masso Miltiadis Tentoglou X Sreeshankar Any Other Indian Athlete Tajay Gayle Yuki Hashioka Eusebio Caceres Thobias Montler X Simon Ehammer Emiliano Lasa Marquis Dendy X Steffin McCarter Any Other Athlete Women's Shot Put Day 2 July 16th 2022 Sarah Mitton X Song Jiayuan X Sara Gambetta Katharina Maisch Danniel Thomas-Dodd Maddison-Lee Wesche Jessica Schilder Auriol Dongmo X Fanny Roos Adelaide Aquilla Chase Ealey Maggie Ewen Jessica Woodard Any Other Athlete Men's 100m Day 2 July 16th 2022 Letsile Tebogo Any Canadian Athlete Benjamin Azamati Any British Athlete Lamont Marcell Jacobs Ackeem Blake Yohan Blake X Oblique Seville Ferdinand Omanyala Akani Simbine Marvin Bracy Trayvon Bromell Christian Coleman X Fred Kerley X Any Other Athlete Men's Marathon Day 3 July 17th 2022 Bashir Abdi X Daniel Do Nascimento Any Athlete From Eritrea Lelisa Desisa Mosinet Geremew X Tamirat Tola X Seifu Tura Kengo Suzuki Lawrence Cherono Geoffrey Kamworor Barnaba Kiptum Abdi Nageeye Victor Kiplangat Stephen Kissa Any Other Athlete Women's Hammer Throw Day 3 July 17th 2022 Hanna Skydan Camryn Rogers Luo Na Kathrine Koch Jacobsen Krista Tervo Sara Fantini Lauren Bruce Annette Nneka Echikunwoke Malwina Kopron X Brooke Andersen X Janee' Kassanavoid DeAnna Price X Any Other Athlete Men's 10,000m Day 3 July 17th 2022 Jack Rayner Mohammed Ahmed X Habtom Samuel Berihu Aregawi X Selemon Barega Tadese Worku Yemaneberhan Crippa Rodgers Kwemoi Daniel Mateiko Stanley Waithaka Mburu Kieran Tuntivate Any American Athlete X Any Other Athlete Women's Pole Vault Day 3 July 17th 2022 Nina Kennedy Alysha Newman Margot Chevrier Holly Bradshaw X Katerina Stefanidi X Roberta Bruni Olivia McTaggart Tina Sutej Lisa Gunnarsson Sandi Morris X Katie Nageotte Robeilys Peinado Any Other Athlete Men's Shot Put Day 3 July 17th 2022 Darlan Romani Filip Mihaljevic Nick Ponzio Jacko Gill Tom Walsh X Chukwuebuka Enekwechi Konrad Bukowiecki Michal Haratyk Josh Awotunde Ryan Crouser X Joe Kovacs X Adrian Piperi Any Other Athlete Men's 110m Hurdles Day 3 July 17th 2022 Any Brazilian Athlete Pascal Martinot-Lagarde Sasha Zhoya X Any British Athlete Shunsuke Izumiya Hansle Parchment Any Other Jamaican Athlete Damian Czykier Asier Martinez Jason Joseph Devon Allen X Trey Cunningham Grant Holloway X Daniel Roberts Any Other Athlete Women's 100m Day 3 July 17th 2022 Any Ivorian Athlete Dina Asher-Smith Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce X Shericka Jackson Kemba Nelson Elaine Thompson-Herah X Julien Alfred Favour Ofili Mujinga Kambundji Michelle-Lee Ahye Aleia Hobbs Melissa Jefferson X Twanisha Terry Any Other Athlete Women's Marathon Day 4 July 18th 2022 Eunice Chebichii Chumba Nazret Weldu Ashete Bekere Gotytom Gebreslase Ababel Yashaneh Jess Piasecki Lonah Chemtai Salpeter X Mao Ichiyama Mizuki Matsuda Hitomi Niiya Ruth Chepngetich X Peres Jepchirchir Judith Jeptum Korir Angela Tanui X Keira D'Amato Any Other Athlete Men's High Jump Day 4 July 18th 2022 Brandon Starc Any Athlete from Brazil Django Lovett Any German Athlete Yonathan Kapitolnik Gianmarco Tamberi X Tomohiro Shinno Hamish Kerr Norbert Kobielski Mutaz Essa Barshim X Woo Sanghyeok X Andriy Protsenko JuVaughn Harrison Shelby McEwen Any Other Athlete Women's Triple Jump Day 4 July 18th 2022 Leyanis Perez Hernandez Liadagmis Povea X Davisleydi Velazco Thea Lafond Ana Lucia Jose Tima Sanni Salminen Neele Eckhardt-Noack Shanieka Ricketts X Patricia Mamona Neja Filipic Tori Franklin Keturah Orji Yulimar Rojas X Any Other Athlete Women's Heptathlon Day 4 July 18th 2022 Nafissatou Thiam X Noor Vidts Carolin Schafer Katharina Johnson-Thompson Xenia Krizsan Emma Oosterwegel X Anouk Vetter X Adrianna Sulek Annik Kälin Anna Hall Kendell Williams Any Other Athlete Men's 3000m Steeplechase Day 4 July 18th 2022 Lamecha Girma X Hailemariyam Tegegn Getnet Wale Mehdi Belhadj Avinash Mukund Sable Ahmed Abdelwahed Ryuji Mura Leonard Bett Abraham Kibiwot Benjamin Kigen Conseslus Kipruto X Soufiane El Bakkali X Daniel Arce Hillary Bor Evan Jager Any Other Athlete Women's 1500m Day 4 July 18th 2022 Jessica Hull Any Other Australian Athlete Freweyni Hailu Hirut Meshesha Gudaf Tsegay Laura Muir X Faith Kipyegon X Any Other Kenyan Athlete Sifan Hassan X Claudia Mihaela Bobocea Winnie Nanyondo Sinclaire Johnson Cory Ann McGee Elle St. Pierre Any Other Athlete Women's High Jump Day 5 July 19th 2022 Nicola Olyslagers Eleanor Patterson Morgan Lake Elena Vallortigara Lamara Distin Nadezhda Dubovitskaya Kristina Ovchinnikova Marija Vukovic Iryna Gerashchenko Yuliya Levchenko X Yaroslava Mahuchikh X Vashti Cunningham X Any Other Athlete Men's Discus Throw Day 5 July 19th 2022 Matthew Denny Lukas Weisshaidinger Claudio Romero Any German Athlete Fredrick Dacres Travis Smikle Mykolas Alekna X Andrius Gudzius Alex Rose Kristjan Ceh X Simon Pettersson Daniel Stahl X Sam Mattis Andrew Evans Any Other Athlete Men's 1500m Day 5 July 19th 2022 Any Australian Athlete Taddese Lemi Samuel Tefera Samuel Abate Zeleke Neil Gourley Josh Kerr Jake Wightman Timothy Cheruiyot X Abel Kipsang X Any Other Kenyan Athlete Charles Grethen Abdellatif Sadiki Jakob Ingebrigtsen X Mohamed Katir Any American Athlete Any Other Athlete Men's 400m Hurdles Day 5 July 19th 2022 Alison Dos Santos Kyron McMaster Rasmus Magi X Wilfred Happio Jaheel Hyde Kemar Mowatt Ezekiel Nathaniel Karsten Warholm X Abderrahman Salsaleck Carl Bengtstrom Yasmani Copello Trevor Bassitt Rai Benjamin X Khallifah Rosser Any Other Athlete Women's Discus Throw Day 6 July 20th 2022 Feng Bin Sandra Perkovic X Silinda Oneisi Morales Yaime Perez Melina Robert-Michon Kristin Pudenz Any Other German Athlete Shadae Lawrence Liliana Ca Valarie Allman X Rachel Dincoff Laulauga Tausaga Any Other Athlete X Women's 3000m Steeplechase Day 6 July 20th 2022 Luiza Gega Winfred Mutile Yavi X Mekides Abebe Simbo Alemayehu Worku Getachew Norah Jeruto X Beatrice Chepkoech Jackline Chepkoech Celliphine Chepteek Chespol X Purity Kirui Peruth Chemutai Emma Coburn Courtney Frerichs Courtney Wayment Any Other Athlete Women's 200m Day 7 July 21st 2022 Shaunae Miller-Uibo Dina Asher-Smith Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Shericka Jackson X Elaine Thompson-Herah Aminatou Seyni Favour Ofili X Mujinga Kambundji Tamara Clark Jenna Prandini Abby Steiner X Any Other Athlete Men's 200m Day 7 July 21st 2022 Aaron Brown Andre De Grasse Alexander Ogando Benjamin Azamati Any British Athlete Any Jamaican Athlete X Joseph Fahnbulleh Udodi Chudi Onwuzurike Luxolo Adams Jereem Richards Kenneth Bednarek Fred Kerley Erriyon Knighton X Noah Lyles X Any Other Athlete Women's 35km Race Walk Day 8 July 22nd 2022 Viviane Lyra Li Maocuo X Na Guo Wu Quanming Magaly Bonilla Glenda Morejon Paola Perez Antigoni Ntrismpioti Serena Sonoda X Kimberly Garcia Leon X Katarzyna Zdzieblo Laura Garcia-Caro Raquel Gonzalez Any Other Athlete Women's Javelin Throw Day 8 July 22nd 2022 Kelsey-Lee Barber Mackenzie Little Elizabeth Gleadle Any Chinese Athlete Sara Kolak Yulenmis Aguilar Nikola Ogrodnikova Christin Hussong X Elina Tzengko X Annu Rani Haruka Kitaguchi Lina Muze Maggie Malone Kara Winger Any Other Athlete X Women's 400m Day 8 July 22nd 2022 Shaunae Miller-Uibo X Sada Williams Roxana Gomez Fiordaliza Cofil Marileidy Paulino X Candice McLeod Stephenie Ann McPherson Charokee Young Modesta Juste Morauskaite Natalia Kaczmarek X Anna Kielbasinska Talitha Diggs Kendall Ellis Lynna Irby Any Other Athlete Men's 400m Day 8 July 22nd 2022 Steven Gardiner Jonathan Jones Bayapo Ndori Lidio Andres Feliz Alexander Ogando Matthew Hudson-Smith Kirani James X Any Jamaican Athlete Zakhiti Nene Champion Allison Michael Cherry Michael Norman X Randolph Ross Any Other Athlete X Women's 400m Hurdles Day 8 July 22nd 2022 Melissa Gonzalez Any British Athlete Ayomide Temilade Folorunso Rushell Clayton Janieve Russelll Shiann Salmon Femke Bol X Gianna Woodruff Sara Gallego Anna Ryzhykova Shamier Little Sydney McLaughlin X Daliah Muhammad X Britton Wilson Any Other Athlete Men's Triple Jump Day 9 July 23rd 2022 Almir Dos Santos Hugues Fabrice Zango X Zhu Yaming Lazaro Martinez X Any Indian Athlete Andrea Dallavalle Pedro Pichardo X Chris Benard Will Claye Donald Scott Christian Taylor Chengetayi Mapaya Any Other Athlete Men's 800m Day 9 July 23rd 2022 Any Algerian Athlete Peter Bol Nijel Amos Marco Arop Any Athlete from Ethiopia Benjamin Robert Gabriel Tual Max Burgin X Wyclife Kinyamal Emmanuel Korir X Any Other Kenyan Athlete Moad Zahafi Tony van Diepen Donovan Brazier Bryce Hoppel Any Other Athlete X Women's 5000m Day 9 July 23rd 2022 Francine Niyonsaba Rahel Daniel Letesenbet Gidey X Dawit Seyaum Ejgayehu Taye X Konstanze Klosterhalfen Any British Athlete Daisy Jepkemei Beatrice Chebet Margaret Chelimo Hellen Obiri Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal Yasemin Can Any American Athlete Any Other Athlete X Men's Javelin Throw Day 9 July 23rd 2022 Jakub Vadlejch Vitezslav Vesely Oliver Helander X Andreas Hofmann X Julian Weber Anderson Peters X Neeraj Chopra Andrian Mardare Leandro Ramos Keshorn Walcott Any American Athlete Any Other Athlete Women's 4x100m Relay Day 9 July 23rd 2022 China France Germany X Great Britain Italy Jamaica X Japan Netherlands Poland Switzerland Trinidad and Tobago United States X Any Other Nation Men's 4x100m Relay Day 9 July 23rd 2022 Brazil Canada China France Ghana Great Britain X Italy Jamaica X Japan Netherlands South Africa United States X Any Other Nation Men's 35km Race Walk Day 10 July 24th 2022 He Xianghong Zhaxi Yangben Jose Montana Aleksi Ojala Aurelien Quinion Christopher Linke Massimo Stano Masatora Kawano X Daisuke Matsunaga X Tomohiro Noda X Jose Luis Doctor Ricardo Ortiz Alvaro Lopez Miguel Angel Lopez Any Other Athlete Men's Pole Vault Day 10 July 24th 2022 Kurtis Marschall Ben Broeders Thibaut Collet Renaud Lavillenie X Bo Kanda Lita Baehre Menno Vloon Paal Haugen Lillefosse Sondre Guttormsen Ernest John Obiena Piotr Lisek Armand Duplantis X Christopher Nilsen Any Other American Athlete Any Other Athlete X Women's Long Jump Day 10 July 24th 2022 Christabel Nettey Malaika Mihambo X Deborah Acquah Any British Athlete Ese Brume X Ruth Usoro Alina Rotaru-Kottmann Agate De Sousa Milica Gardasevic Ivana Vuleta X Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk Quanesha Burks Any Other American Athlete Any Other Athlete Men's 5000m Day 10 July 24th 2022 Thierry Ndikumwenayo Mohammed Ahmed X Berihu Aregawi Selemon Barega Muktar Edris Yomif Kejelcha Mohamed Mohumed Nicholas Kipkorir Kimeli Daniel Simiu Ebenyo Jacob Krop Jakob Ingebrigtsen X Joshua Cheptegei X Grant Fisher Any Other American Athlete Any Other Athlete Women's 800m Day 10 July 24th 2022 Rose Mary Almanza Habitam Alemu Hirut Meshesha Diribe Welteji Renelle Lamote Keely Hodgkinson X Jemma Reekie Natoya Goule Faith Kipyegon Mary Moraa Prudence Sekgodiso Halimah Nakaayi Athing Mu X Raevyn Rogers Ajee WIlson X Any Other Athlete Women's 100m Hurdles Day 10 July 24th 2022 Liz Clay Devynne Charlton Cindy Sember Britany Anderson Megan Tapper Danielle Williams Nadine Visser Tobi Amusan Jasmine Camacho-Quinn X Pia Skrzyszowska Nia Ali X Alia Armstrong Kendra Harrison X Alaysha Johnson Any Other Athlete Men's Decathlon Day 10 July 24th 2022 Cedric Dubler Ashley Moloney Pierce Lepage Damian Warner X Janek Oiglane Kevin Mayer X Niklas Kaul X Leo Neugebauer Lindon Victor Ayden Owens-Delerme Steve Bastien Kyle Garland Zachery Ziemek Any Other Athlete Men's 4x400m Relay Day 10 July 24th 2022 Belgium X Botswana X Colombia Dominican Republic France Italy Jamaica X Japan Netherlands South Africa Trinidad and Tobago United States Any Other Nation Women's 4x400m Relay Day 10 July 24th 2022 Belgium Canada Cuba Dominican Republic France Germany Great Britain Italy Jamaica X Netherlands Poland X United States X Any Other Nation [/hide]

Imagine me cheering for her over Kilty and Zagainova and then finding this out

Surprised that nobody at all cared to discuss the European Junior Swimming championships The star for Lithuania was Daniil Pancerevas, finishing 5th in 100m, 200m Freestyle and 200m Medley. Another very promising thing was the relays, Lithuanian women broke the NR for both 4x200m and 4x100m Freestyle, finishing 5th and 7th in the final. Three of them were born in 2007, so the core of the team sticks for another two years, whilst Romanovskaja has one more year with the team too. The men's 4x100m Freestyle relay also qualified to the final finishing 6th with a World Junior Championships qualifying mark. One semifinal each for Geriksonaitė (50m backstroke), Plytnykaitė (50m freestyle) and Statkevičius (200m freestyle) that were the other three members of the women's relay. Lastly, semifinal for Kajus Stankevičius in 200m backstroke and Kiril Stepanov in 100m freestyle. No medals, but the core quality of the team is rising every year and also more and more talented young women representing the team well, so it's no longer only a breaststroke affair for us. Really see a bright future for Lithuanian swimming if, of course, the swimmers continue on with their career.

Grikšaitė was antivax, so she couldn't go

Wow, what a nice surprise at the European junior swimming championships. Both the 4x100 freestyle relays qualified to the final in 6th (men) and 7th (women) Silvija Statkevičius qualified in the 200m Freestyle Patricija Geriksonaitė qualified in the 50m Backstroke Daniil Pancerevas qualified in the 200m Freestyle There's definitely something to look forward to in the evening session

Small and humble team for Lithuania at these World Championships: Team Lithuania Women 400m - Modesta Justė Morauskaitė High Jump - Urtė Baikštytė Discus Throw - Ieva Zarankaitė Javelin Throw - Liveta Jasiūnaitė 20km Race Walk - Brigita Virbalytė Men Discus Throw - Mykolas Alekna, Andrius Gudžius 20km Race Walk - Marius Žiūkas 35km Race Walk - Artur Mastianica Aina Grikšaitė - triple jump is in 33rd right now, but in top 32 there's one athlete that is already retired, so she might get an invitation still. Similarly to team Slovakia, our team is also in recovery mode, which is why most of them were not able to collect enough points and are focusing on the European Championships as well, where I've counted that a 20+ athlete team is still a possibility. And although some are recovering and slowly getting their form up for the ECH, one of our strongest athletes, javelin thrower Edis Matusevičius didn't even get to start this season at all, I hope he gets back in 2023.

Made a mistake, Airinė cannot qualify to the WCH, because she doesn't have the 5 starts needed for her to qualify through rating, so her entire focus is on the European Championships, whilst Baikštytė has a decent chance to qualify to both of the championships.

Some notable moments from the Lithuanian athletics championships day 2: 200m 1. Gediminas Truskauskas 20.62 SB 2. Tomas Keršulis 20.90 - with no wind assistance what so ever. These two guys are probably going to be noticeable in European running. 200m 1. Modesta Justė Morauskaitė 23.26 PB - she decided to skip the 400m since she has qualifying marks for both championships. 400m Hurdles 1. Ema Sarafinaitė (2004) 1:00.63 PB 2. Gerda Kirkytė (2005) 1:00.73 PB - both qualify to the World U20 championships. High Jump 1. Airinė Palšytė 1.89 SB 2. Urtė Baikštytė 1.86 - Urtė Baikštytė already is safely qualified to ECH through the ranking, but this won't be enough for her to qualify to the WCH. Airinė might barely scrape through to qualify to WCH, but she'll definitely need more solid starts to get into ECH later this year. Triple Jump 1. Aina Grikšaitė 13.98/-1.0 PB 2. Dovilė Kilty 13.74/+1.3 SB 3. Diana Zagainova 13.67/+0.7 SB - this is an iconic day when Aina for the first time in her life beat both the European U23 triple jump champions in a very entertaining battle. Four of her jumps were further than Dovilė and Diana and this might actually open doors for her first ever international competitions, whilst Kilty and Zagainova might just remain at home, not having enough points for ranking qualification. European Javelin Throw bronze medalist Liveta Jasiūnaitė won today with a humble throw of 58.43 The +28oC sun was killing everyone and definitely interfered with the results of middle/long distance runners that were way off of their best times.

You are absolutely disgusted at everything and I can only wonder how sorry of a life you're living to be in a constant state of disgust and unhappiness. Cheers, here's to hoping she wins more medals to annoy you in the future.

And she's a world champion! So happy to have her back, even if it's only till the next Olympics.

Probably last update from the Lithuanian championships as it's unlikely that anything crazy is going to happen. Greta Karinauskaitė broke the Lithuanian U23 record in the 3000m Steeplechase with 9:50.26, you're likely to see her in the European Championships, she was also very close to qualify to the World Championships as well. 400m had two good news today: Tomas Keršulis won the race with 46.45, this will probably be enough to qualify him to the European Championships through the ranking system, whilst Lukas Sutkus came second with 47.57, qualifying to the World U20. 0.26s off of the Lithuanian U20 record, which might still be broken this season.

Updates from the Lithuanian championships Rugilė Miklyčiūtė (2005) goes above and beyond. She broke the Lithuanian pole vault NR a week ago and today she smashed it! 3.60 XXO 3.75 O 3.95 O 4.00 O 4.10 XO And then she stopped jumping. First ever Lithuanian woman to jump 4 metres, becomes the third best European U18 vaulter this season, qualifies for World U20 championships. Another very respectable result came from Jogailė Petrokaitė with a clean 6.76 jump. That's her PB and she's having a season of her life. Might be enough for ranking points to get quotas in both the World and European championships. We'll know next week.

Lithuanian athletics championships opened today with the Discus Throw 1. Mykolas Alekna - 69.00 PB, remains the 5th best thrower even with the PB, really shows the quality of throwing this season. 2. Andrius Gudžius - 65.21, really couldn't handle the pressure today, only two valid throws. 3. Aleksas Abromavičius - 59.93 4. Martynas Alekna - 59.70

Weird, I remember always hating the fact that the Olympic Games don't count towards the World Cup total score. Since we're not a medal winning nation, the World Championships are going to be reduced to funding games for us, which is sad, because we usually got quite a few world cup points since we were timing our form for the championships every year. Now, those rare top 20s won't feel that much special without any points behind them.

You can think whatever you want, this is one of those rare cases where it is quite evident, if you know some very undelightful details, that she used this ban as a form of escape. You have absolutely no idea what she lived through, the fact that she came back like this is astonishing. She was one of the most tested Lithuanian athletes from 2012 to 2018, instigating that she used doping when her results got bad and after she already won it all is pretty stupid. Is it good that she purposefully missed her doping tests? No. But she was done, she thought she would never swim competitively again and she used the safety net of the ban so that she wouldn't have to make that choice herself and that the federation & media would stop pestering her about the upcoming 2020 Olympics. You don't know what it was like for Meilutytė when she stopped winning gold and immediately the journalists and many many sports fans turned on her, made fun of her body, harrassed her and all that.

Meilutytė was retired, she started swimming again this winter, she participated in two 25m course local competitions, Lithuanian 50m course championships and one swimming meet in Stockholm. These World Championships are only her 5th appearance in a swimming competition since coming back.

Can't put into words how absolutely insane and unprecedented this comeback is. She told everyone to not expect anything of her and that she is only swimming for herself now. She is not pushing herself too hard for results and she's only been training for half a year after a three year hiatus. She is no longer dealing with the bullshit of journalists that were one of the primary reasons she fell into depression and decided not to pursue professional sports. And now she is back, with a bronze medal at the World Championships, only 0.09s away from the gold. We don't know how long we'll have her, she might even say that she quits swimming again tomorrow, but as long as she's in the sport, I'm going to continue to support her, because she is capable of so many great things and is an absolute fighter. I'm hoping she'll go for Paris OG, but I definitely understand if she decides not to. I'm just happy that she gave us the comeback that many of us Lithuanian fans were secretly hoping for, especially when the rumours started flying that she's swimming in Kaunas again. What a star.

Yesterday and today, we've held the Lithuanian u18 championship. 4 additional athletes qualified to the u18 ECH and we should have a team of probably 20 athletes there. The highlight of the competition was Rugilė Miklyčiūtė breaking the Lithuanian NR in Pole Vault that was standing since 2012. The new NR is 3.92 and it's the fifth best performance in the European U18 field so far. Rugilė is also the very first Lithuanian pole vaulter to ever qualify for an athletics championship in any age group, we were always hilariously bad in this event, especially in the women's field.

Oh please, bring Madona into the circuit, we've held over 10 national championships and other events there since we didn't have our own functional course up until this last season. Though home advantage is unlikely to help our young "talent"