LBTU students win medals at "SELL Games 2023"
From May 19th to 21st, the international student sports competition "SELL Games 2023" took place in the "student capital" of Estonia, Tartu. The delegation of the LBTU, was represented by 16 athletes who competed in five different sports disciplines. This year, LBTU students won one silver medal and four bronze medals.
Four LBTU athletes participated in the athletics competition. The highest result was achieved by Andrejs Bānis, a student from the Faculty of Food Technology (PTF), who won a silver medal in the 5000-meter race, setting a personal record. In the women's javelin throw, Una Diāna Veipāne, a student from the Faculty of Economics and Social Development (ESAF), won a bronze medal. In the men's javelin throw, Roberts Gļauda, a student from the Faculty of Forestry (MF), ranked fifth. In the women's 200 meters, Dita Apsīte, a student from the Faculty of Environmental and Civil Engineering (VBF), missed qualifying for the final race by 1.07 seconds and finished in 11th place.
Four students participated in the swimming competition - Arvīds Vilčaks from the Faculty of Information Technology (ITF), Sergejs Židkovs from VBF, Emīls Dūmiņš from MF, and Iļja Boicovs from VBF. Among this quartet, the best result was achieved by Iļja Boicovs, who won a bronze medal in the 100-meter breaststroke.
In the athletics competition, ITF student Kristers Švarcs represented LBTU and ranked 7th in his weight category.
The orienteering sport brought the most medals to the LBTU delegation. First, MF student Matīss Timermanis won a bronze medal in the sprint distance, and the next day, his classmate Mārcis Jansons added another bronze medal to LBTU's medal collection in the middle distance. The third orienteer fell slightly short of the medals in both distances, finishing 5th in the sprint distance and 6th in the middle distance.
In 3x3 basketball, the LBTU men's basketball team players participated, including Emīls Stepiņš from VBF, Arnolds Fridrihsons from VBF, Salvis Fiļipovs from ESAF, and Hardijs Kristiāns Veisbergs from VBF. On the first day, the LBTU basketball team lost to Vilnius University with a score of 7-14, but in the decisive match for qualifying for the quarter-finals, they defeated Tallinn Technical University with a score of 21-19. Their journey for medals ended in the quarter-finals, where the LBTU quartet acknowledged the superiority of Kaunas University with a score of 9-21.
The next "SELL Games" are expected to take place in May of the following year in Lithuania.
The name "SELL Games" is formed from the initial letters of the four organizing countries - Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania - in their respective languages (Suomi, Eesti, Latvija, Lietuva), and the competition is held annually in one of these countries, bringing together student athletes from other countries.