Lithuania’s giant hope for Sydney

Lithuania’s giant hope for Sydney
Mark Butler

13 September 2000 - Who will be the male athlete of 2000? The results from Sydney will surely answer that question, but if the season were to end now many athletics experts would make a firm choice of the Lithuanian discus thrower Virgilius Alekna.

At his national championships in Kaunas on August 3, the 1997 world silver medallist spun his discus out to 73.88, just 20cm short of the longest-standing world record on the books, Jürgen Schult's 74.08 from 1986. No other male athlete has got as near to a world record this year, and it's quite possible that no-one individual will do so, even in Sydney.

It was one of 15 successive wins for Alekna this summer before he lost a titanic clash with Lars Riedel in Berlin, 69.72 to 69.70. Perhaps the giant Lithuanian had other things on his mind, his wife had given birth to their first child, a son, just one week earlier.

"I did not believe I could throw 73.88," said Alekna of his performance in Kaunas, "but I wanted to throw around 71. Straight away I felt it would go far."

It was the fourth throw in one of the greatest series in the history of the event, 70.22, 72.35, 69.26, 73.88 followed by two fouls which were in the region of 67m. Schult's world record beckons, but Alekna is not obsessed with that target.

"I don't think about it because if you think too much, you can't react," he explained. "I need good wind and good conditions to do it. If it comes, it comes. Also you need to be in good shape, and I'm not in good shape yet."

This was from a man who was just about to throw further than 70m six times in Zürich!

I was given the opportunity to speak to Alekna via his manager, Aivar Karotamm, while the 1998 World Cup winner was being given one of his twice-daily massages by his personal physiotherapist Zigmas Zivatkauskas.

Zivatkauskas (60) seems to be the key to Alekna's improvement this year following a moderate 1999 when he missed out on a medal in Seville. At training camp in South Africa this spring, he split with his coach of 10 years, Rimantas Kalibatas. Now he is largely self-coached, with the wiry Zivatkauskas watching, advising and administering massages when required.

Zivatkauskas, a former 2:17 marathon runner, has been part of every Soviet or Lithuanian Olympic team since 1971 so is obviously hugely experienced.

"His [former] coach wanted him to make technical changes and to always train at the maximum," explained Karotamm. "I did not accept that I needed to do this," added Alekna, who has now cut back on weight training and spends more time practising his throws, with implements as heavy as 5kg.

All under the eye of Zivatkauskas.

"He understands the discus very well," says Alekna. "Every day we watch my technique and if you do this every day, you can't help but understand the event."

"He has good hands and his reactions are very good, very explosive," said

Zivatkauskas. "He was born to be a discus thrower."

"But I always wanted to play basketball," responded Alekna, who did once represent Vilnius in that sport. He dare not play these days, insisted Szigmunds, because of the risk of injury.

The Lithuanian record holder prepared for his momentous season in South Africa, the United States and Spain. In the main part of the summer he is based in Vilnius with his family. His wife Kristina is the sister of 1997 World heptathlon bronze medallist Remigia Nazaroviené, who herself is entered for Sydney.

Alekna has a physique which millions of male gym-goers would die for. In fact he resembles the sort of strongman figure which a cartoonist might sketch, complete with a firm jaw and wide grin. At 2.00/130kg he is bigger than the established discus adonis, Lars Riedel. His 2.22 metre arm-span is 10cm wider than Reidel's. If Alekna were to stand in the aisle of a bus he would be able to make fingerprints on the windows on each side at the same time.

He does not draw the same adulation in Lithuania - where basketball is the number one sport - which Reidel has in Germany. In fact, most of Alekna's fan letters he receives are from Germany. Unlike Reidel, he has not been invited to star in car advertisements or pose for the cameras wearing nothing by a layer of gold paint.

"I have nothing to do like this because I have no championship," said the humble Alekna. "Riedel is the Olympic Champion. I have to accept that he is the best."

In any case, Alekna has a proper job in the off-season. Up to four days a week, he acts as a bodyguard to the ex-President of Lithuania, Algirdas Brazauskas. He has been one of Brazauskas's staff since 1994. The shy giant is reluctant to discuss this role - "I think it is more interesting to speak about sport" - but he did confirm that the job has not yet brought him into danger.

"No, everyone likes the ex-President, no-one wants to kill him," Alekna explained. "But you have to work well. If you make a mistake, it's too late. You must work in advance to make sure there will be no problems."