Youth Ask for a Place on the Team

08.05.1962 (Sports)

Spring is not in a hurry this year. Listening to the not-so-encouraging weather forecast, track and field athletes are becoming increasingly nervous. And why not? In ten days, the national team will travel to Vilnius to compete with athletes from neighboring republics, but many have not yet had time to try their hand at the track, jumping and throwing sectors.

The first spring competitions of track and field athletes always arouse undivided interest. Here new forces appear, it is revealed how seriously one or another athlete has worked in the winter. Of course, in the first starts it is in vain to hope for a smooth step, an easy flight of runners and jumpers. Now the strength accumulated in the winter dominates. We could also observe a similar scene in the races held at the Dinamo stadium on Sunday. The soft track and cool wind did not contribute to showing high results.

The first to be mentioned is Arturs Sliede, a student of the Faculty of Automation at the Latvian Institute of Technology. He surpassed J. Bērziņš's best national youth shot put achievement of 15.38 m . Having become a first-class athlete, he gained the right to compete in the national team.

[...]

In the women's sprint distances, Renāte Lāce is undoubtedly the best. But for the further places, an interesting battle is expected between Larisa Maksimova and Maija Lāce. The result of their first mutual match was 1:1, Maija was ahead at 100 meters, but Larisa was faster at 200 m.

The track and field athletes' battle for tenths of a second, meters and centimeters has begun. Let's hope that other young athletes will claim their rights to the adult national team as confidently as A. Sliede.

Men.

Shot Put

Bērziņš 15,79. Sliede 15,38. Kivlenieks 14,43

[...]

E. KEHRIS