Olympic debutante Ieva Zarankaitė-Gumbs is preparing for the Paris Games, her long-time dream come true.
Football usually dominates at the Utena Stadium in Lithuania’s 10th biggest town, but next to it is a discus throwing field, where tens of thousands of throws are made in the run-up to the Olympics by Utena-native Gumbs, 29, living out her dream.
She tried out many sports as a child but ultimately stuck with discus throwing, which her mother Vita Zarankienė also did when she was younger. Zarankienė never lived out her Olympic dreams but will be there for her daughter’s Olympic debut: “Our goal is making it to the Olympic finals.”
Mother’s support, who is also her coach, is very important for Gumbs: “As my coach, she’s more protective and caring. She doesn’t take any vacations or weekends off. That sacrifice was because both our goals were to make it to the Olympic Games. When she was an athlete, she didn’t make it to the games, but I’ll be competing, she’ll be my coach now. We worked very well and overcame a lot of hardships. It’s a huge thing for us.”
Zarankienė admits that training Ieva and her sister Eglė requires balance. Working with many children, it’s important not to single out her own, but in the end, when dreams come true, she’s filled with emotion: “The Olympics are everyone’s dream. Not only for athletes but for coaches too. It’s a great honour, responsibility, pride to see the coach’s athletes make it to the games. The goal now is to make it to the games safely and, ultimately, make it to the Olympic finals.”
Gumbs started dreaming about making it to the Olympics after the Rio de Janeiro games and after coming very close to qualifying for Tokyo. Finally, the dream came true this year at the Oklahoma Throws Series World Invitational, where she qualified for the Olympics and achieved a new personal best of 64.98 meters.
“There was a torrent of tears. Every athlete dreams of competing at a level that high when they start their professional career. There was relief, tears of joy, and a new personal record. There were a lot of emotions,” Gumbs remembers the competition in the US.
The discus thrower is already a 13-time Lithuanian champion, she wishes to have more competition in women’s discus throwing, but she’s glad Lithuania is a hub for the sport. Her biggest inspiration is her male compatriot Mykolas Alekna, who broke the world record this year.
“He is made for discus throw. He is very talented. Having his results at his age is impressive. Everyone used to say that for discus throw you had to be tall, strong and trained well, but he’s broken every standard and has the world record. It’s very interesting to watch him in competitions and while training. He’s inspiring. His technique is specific and unique,” Gumbs said about her friend and Olympic teammate.
Gumbs is glad that her athletic journey helped her find love – she exchanged golden wedding bands last year with her husband whom she met while studying in the US.
“It’s a very interesting story because I came to study in the US as a student-athlete with a scholarship. After a month, when I didn’t really know anyone, I met my husband and we became friends. That friendship eventually grew and now we’re married. There were hard times. Lots of trips from coming back to Lithuania to doing my master’s degree in Florida. However, he always supported and understood me. He’ll be cheering on and supporting me in Paris,” Gumbs said.
Translated by Monika Jurevičius
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
