- Sport in Lithuania
Following independence in 1990, the
Lithuania n government set up the Physical Education and Sports Department to manage physical education in the schools as well as sports administration in the country. Over the next few years, Lithuanian sports organizations established or re-established membership in various international bodies, including theInternational Olympic Committee . Lithuania participated in theWinter Olympics in Albertville and every Winter and Summer Olympics since.There are nearly 80 Olympic and non-Olympic sports federations in Lithuania and the Lithuanian Union of Sports Federations was founded in 1993 to unite them. The "Sports for All" organization was established to promote physical education and a healthy lifestyle for all Lithuanians.
Among the most popular sports in Lithuania are
basketball , football, athletics andcycling . Professional sportsmen and trainers are educated in theLithuanian Academy of Physical Education .Basketball
Basketball is the most popular sport in Lithuania. A few facts:
* The Lithuanian basketball team has won Europe Championship in 1937, 1939, 2003. Won 2nd place in 1995 (Athens ), and bronze in 2007.
* Bronze medal winners in the 1992, 1996, and2000 Summer Olympics . Won 4th place in2004 Summer Olympics .
* Junior basketball team (under 19 years of age) has won European Championship in 2003 and took 2nd place in World Championship in the same year.
* Junior basketball team (under 21) has won World Championship in 2005 (Argentina)
* Europe Championship in 1939 was held in Lithuania.
* "Žalgiris" Kaunas has won Europe cup in 1998 andEuroleague in 1999.
* "Lietuvos Rytas" Vilnius has won ULEB Cup in 2005.
* Several Lithuanian basketball players have successfully played in the NBA:
**Arvydas Sabonis (Portland Trail Blazers , 1995-2001, 2002-03)
**Šarūnas Marčiulionis (Golden State Warriors and other teams, 1989-1997)
**Žydrūnas Ilgauskas (still playing forCleveland Cavaliers )
**Darius Songaila (still playing forWashington Wizards )
*These players are newcomers to the NBA in the Fall of 2005:
**Šarūnas Jasikevičius (playing forGolden State Warriors )
**Martynas Andriuškevičius (played forChicago Bulls )
**Linas Kleiza (playing forDenver Nuggets )* Currently Lithuania is 5th in the
FIBA [http://www.fiba.com/pages/en/misc/ranking/FIBArankingG.asp?an_id=557&pn_id=178& men's world ranking]Football
The Lithuanian national football team has been rated around number 100 in
FIFA World Rankings in recent years, with the highest rating being #42 on 20th August 1997, and the lowest #118 on 1st September 2004.At the beginning of existence of the independent Lithuanian state (from 1919 until the
Soviet occupation) the word "sport" was equaled to the word "football". Football players were the first sportsmen to participate in international competitions, notably the 1924Olympic games inParis and 1937 in World Cup qualifiers. During the occupation period football was also popular in Lithuania. The main problem in Lithuanian football is a lack ofstadium s and training grounds.There are individual players playing in strong European football leagues, most famous of them:
*
Edgaras Jankauskas - winner of Champions League 2004 with FC Porto
*Deividas Šemberas - winner ofUEFA Cup 2005 with CSKAThe
A Lyga (English: The A League) is the top division of professional football inLithuania .Like the rest of the
Europe Lithuanians do like to watchUEFA Champions League , theFIFA World Cup and other world class football tournaments. There are many fans of this sport.Athletics
Lithuanian athletes have won some medals in the Olympics and European/World championships,
discus thrower Virglijus Alekna , two times Olympic gold medalist, being the top one.Cycling
There are Lithuanian cyclists with high achievements in prestigious cycling tours and in World Championships. The achievements of Lithuanian women cyclists are especially noteworthy.
Lithuanian women cyclists made their mark on the international scene starting from 1991. Leading the way in this were, among others,
Zita Urbonaitė and Diana Čepelienė who took the 3rd place (overall GC) in theWomen's Challenge in summer of 1991.Among the best Lithuanian cyclists were twin sisters
Jolanta Polikevičiūtė andRasa Polikevičiūtė (2001 World Road Race Champion),Edita Pučinskaitė (1999 World Road Race Champion), andDiana Žiliūtė (1994 World Junior Road Race Champion, 1998 World Road Race Champion, and 2000 Olympic Games Road Race bronze medalist).There is also a strong program of promotion of cycling at the junior level for girls in Lithuania culminating in an annual international race for girls in
Panevėžys . A number of young Lithuanian riders have emerged from this program, led by Modesta Vžesniauskaitė who now stands among the top riders in the world.Other Sports
*
Orienteering is a popular sport that combinescross-country running with landnavigation skills in the woods. Variations of the sport popular in Lithuania includebicycle orienteering andski orienteering. Orienteering in Lithuania is organized by the [http://www.losf.lt/ Lietuvos Orientavimosi Sporto Federacija] .*
Amateur Radio Direction Finding is a sport that combines the skills oforienteering with the skills ofradio direction finding . ARDF in Lithuania is organized by the [http://www.qsl.net/lrmd Lietuvos Radijo Megeju Draugija] .*Alpine skiing is also popular in Lithuania. Races are organized by the Lithuanian Alpine Ski Federation. There is one ski club for children, the [http://www.kalnuslidinejimas.lt/ereliai Kalnu Ereliai] Ski Club. The club accepts children from 4-18 in 3 main groups: Learn To Ski, Sport Group and FIS Team.
External links
* [http://www.kksd.lt Department of Physical Education and Sports of the Lithuanian Government] , in Lithuanian and English
* [http://www.randburg.com/li/physiedu.html Organization and recent history of Lithuanian sports] , in English
* [http://www.kksd.lt/English/PE%20and%20Sport/Doc/42%20prov%202%20lithuania%20report%20%20VM2.doc Report on Physical Education and "Sport for All" in Lithuania] (in English, MS Word doc)
* [http://www.ltok.lt Lithuanian Olympic Committee] , in Lithuanian
* [http://www.ldsf.lt Lithuanian Cycling Federation] , in Lithuanian
* [http://www2.omnitel.net/almis/ Lithuanian Soccer: History and Statistics] , in English
* [http://www.alyga.lt Lithuanian soccer premiership "A lyga"] , in Lithuanian
* [http://www.ultras.lt Lithuanian soccer ultras] , in Lithuanian
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