Rimas Gedeika
Move Over, Žalgiris!
The Bicyclists are Coming!
Rimas Gedeika, a marathon runner, is a senior product development analyst in an insurance corporation. He is also an avid Lithuanian sports enthusiast.
Move over, Žalgiris! A new, dynamic, unbelievably fantastic team is about to take your place. It is a team, which over the past two years captured the imagination, the hearts, and souls of all the Lithuanian people including the fanatical basketball fans!
|
Who is this team? It is the Lithuanian women's bicycle team.
This team amazed the entire world by winning, two years in a row, both the Women's World Road Racing Championship and the Women's Tour de France the most prestigious multi-day (13-day) race on the racing circle. They did this in 1998 and again in 1999. In addition, in 1998 the team was ranked number two in the world. In 1999, it was ranked number three.
It is amazing that any team could win both of these races two years in a row. What is even more amazing is that such a small team, comprised of four athletes, from such a small country as Lithuania, could not only compete against but also defeat such powerful teams as Germany, France, Italy, Denmark, and Norway.
At this time I would like to introduce to you the young ladies who have made this team the inspirational crew that it is today.
|
Diana Ziliūtė is 24 years of age and lives in Panevėžys. In 1994 Diana won the Junior World Road Race Championships. In 1996 she participated in Atlanta's Olympic Games. In 1998, in all six world cup races, Diana was either first or within the top four. As a result, she was ranked number one in the world. During that year she won many other races, but her most notable victories were winning the Women's World Championship and the European Championship. This was the first time that a Lithuanian had won the World Championship.
She also represented Lithuania in the under 23 years-old world championships where she won a gold and silver medal enabling the Lithuanian team to win the championship. Finally, she was named Lithuania's Athlete of the year.
In 1999, she had another fine racing season. She was ranked number three in the world; won the multi-day (13 days) women's Tour de France becoming only the second Lithuanian to do this; and placed third in the Women's World Championships.
Edita Pučinskaitė is 25 years old and lives in Panevėžys. In 1998, she won many races, but her most celebrated victory was winning the Tour de France becoming the first Lithuanian to win this race.
The year 1999 was a truly remarkable one for Edita. During the month of August she won eight races! However, her single, most notable accomplishment was winning the Women's World Championship (the second Lithuanian to do so), and in the same Championships, winning a bronze medal in the individual time trials. She also took second in the Tour de France Race. She finished this fantastic year by being selected a Lithuanian Athlete of the Year.
Jolanta and Rasa Polokevičiūtės, 30 year-old twin sisters, also live in Panevėžys and have for years been winning individual races. They have also done well in the 1998 Tour de France race: Jolanta was fifth and Rasa was seventh. In that same year's World Championship Race, Rasa finished fourth.
As great as these accomplishments were, their greatest accomplishments did not result in victories for themselves but in victories for their teammates: Žiliūtė in 1998 and Pučinskaitė in 1999.
It is a well-known fact that to win a Group road race, great team effort is required. Both Rasa and Jolanta, for the past two years, have sacrificed their individual aspirations to help their teammates, Diana and Edita, win their respective races. They did this by attacking the course, by breaking away from the pack, by making the competitors work twice as hard, while Diana and Edita drafted and rested behind them. The twin sisters took turns wearing down the competitors. They maneuvered this way until about 500 meters to the finish line. At that point, the rested Diana and Edita started to sprint, and their worn down competitors could not keep up with them. Thus the Lithuanian victory.
Both Ziliūtė and Pučinskaitė readily admit that without Rasa's and Jolanta's help, they would not have won their respective races. No team had better team players than the Lithuanian team.
|
Besides having a world class road-racing team, Lithuania also has a great track racer by the name of Rasa Mažeikytė.
In 1999, the 24 year-old Rasa accomplished what no other Lithuanian woman track bicyclist had ever accomplished; she won the European 3k Track Championship and a bronze medal in the women's World Track 3k Championships. She is regarded as one of the favorites to win a medal at this year's Olympic Games.
Presently all five young bicyclists are vigorously partaking in a training program geared to get them to reach their peak performance level for the Olympic Games in Sydney, just six months away.
Of all the Lithuanian teams going to the Olympics, this team is given the best chance of winning several medals, among them a gold medal. When this occurs, the only question we'll be able to ask is "Žalgiris Who?" The Lithuanian women's bicyclists will be the ones to bring home the gold! u