World discus champion Andrius Gudzius and European indoor high jump champion Airine Palsyte won four awards between them at the Lithuanian Sports Award Ceremony 2017 in Vilnius on Friday night.
Gudzius became the first athlete since Virgilijus Alekna in 2006 to be named Lithuanian Sportsman of the Year. He claimed the accolade ahead of modern pentathlete Justinas Kinderis and sprint canoer Henrikas Zustautas and his performance at the World Championships where he defeated Sweden’s Daniel Stahl by two centimetres was recognised as the Victory of the Year.
“I hope golden times for athletics are coming back to Lithuania and I hope they will stay,” said Gudzius. “You don’t get these awards for free, everything happens because of hard work. Airine and I haven’t appeared from nowhere; year by year we both work hard and the awards are getting bigger. This is very important for us.'
After a string of near misses in major events, Palsyte cleared a national record of 2.01m to claim the European indoor high jump title in Belgrade. She missed the majority of the outdoor season due to injury but she still finished seventh at the IAAF World Championships and capped her season with a bronze medal at the World University Games in Taipei.
Palsyte was named Sportswoman of the Year ahead of track cyclist Simona Krupeckaite and swimmer Ruta Meilutyte and she also received the Breakthrough of the Year award.
“To be selected as the best sportswoman across all sports is a huge recognition. I hope it’s not the last time I win it but I know that it is more difficult to defend a title than to win it. Anyway I will do my best, I definitely want to be on this stage next year!' said Palsyte.
Gudzius’ coach Vaclovas Kidykas was also named male Coach of the Year while Palsyte’s coach Tatjana Krasauskiene was named female Coach of the Year.