The Lithuanian National Olympic Committee ( lt, Lietuvos tautinis olimpinis komitetas, ''LTOK'') is the

National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...

representing

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

History

Lithuania's national Olympic committee was established and recognized in 1924. In the same year LTOK sent its first delegation to the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The op ...

. During

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

occupation time LTOK was disestablished. At 1988 movement for freedom times there was offered to restore national committee. On October 10, 1988 LSSR physical education and sport organization created a special group to reestablish National Olympic Committee of Lithuania. Group chairman become . At same year December 11 in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

was held delegates session in which LTOK was restored, and Artūras Poviliūnas was elected its president. LTOK delegates on February 15, 1990, in

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

met

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

spokesman. Following the

Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania The Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania or Act of March 11 ( lt, Aktas dėl Lietuvos nepriklausomos valstybės atstatymo) was an independence declaration by Lithuania adopted on March 11, 1990, signed by all members of the S ...

on March 11, the republic withdrew its athletes from all Soviet national competitions. Lithuania attempted to first compete on its own at the 1990 Goodwill Games that would be contested from July to August, but the request was rejected and an attempt to make the athletes carry the republic's flag during welcoming ceremonies and wear patches on their Soviet uniforms bearing the Lithuanian insignia was not accepted by the LTOK. Only four Lithuanian athletes accepted to play for the USSR at the Goodwill Games. In a 1991 IOC meeting at

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, the National Olympic Committee of Lithuania was officially recognized. Lithuania was along with Baltic neighbors

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

and

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

one of the first parts of the former USSR to participate as an independent country.

Participating incidents

* In the 1932 Summer Olympics in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, Lithuania did not participate due to economic difficulties and political controversies surrounding the National Olympic Committee. * In the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Lithuania was not invited by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

due to the

Klaipėda Klaipėda (; ; german: Memel; pl, Kłajpeda; russian: Клайпеда; sgs, Klaipieda) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. The capital of the eponymous county, it is the third largest city and the only major seaport in Lithuan ...

/Memelland region controversy. * On 19 November 2021, a group of 17 members of Lithuanian national parliament

Seimas The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas), or simply the Seimas (), is the unicameral parliament of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of government in Lithuania, enacting laws and amendmen ...

released an official letter encouraging

to withdraw from the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...

due to human rights violations in China. Daina Gudzinevičiūtė, president of National Olympic Committee of Lithuania, released a statement that Olympic games should be politically neutral and confirmed that committee has no plans to boycott the games. On 3 December 2021, Lithuania was the first nation to announce a diplomatic boycott of the games.

Current NOC Leadership

President

Artūras Poviliūnas Artūras is a Lithuanian masculine given name. It is a cognate of the English language name Arthur. Notable people with the name include: *Artūras Barysas (1954–2005), Lithuanian "counter-culture" actor, singer, photographer, and filmmaker *Art ...

(1988–2012) * Daina Gudzinevičiūtė (2012–present)

Vice presidents

Arvydas Juozaitis Arvydas Juozaitis (born 18 April 1956 in Vilnius) is a Lithuanian writer, philosopher, politician, cultural worker and former swimmer who won a bronze medal in the 100 meter breaststroke at the 1976 Summer Olympics. In 1988, he was a member o ...

Algis Vasiliauskas Algis is a Lithuanian male given name, an abbreviation of Algimantas. Notable people with the name include: *Algis Budrys (1931–2008), Lithuanian-American science fiction author, editor and critic *Algis Ignatavicius (born 1931), Lithuanian-Austr ...

Romualdas Bakutis Romualdas is a Lithuanian masculine given name. List of people named Romualdas * Romualdas Aleliūnas (born 1960), Lithuanian designer of ceramics * Romualdas Brazauskas (born 1960), Lithuanian basketball referee * Romualdas Granauskas (1939-2014) ...

Secretary General

* Valentinas Paketūras

Members

LTOK has 40 full time members, 3 approved observers and 12 Olympic-friendly unions:LTOK nariai
/ref> ;Full time members (40) ;Approved observers (3) ; Olympic-friendly unions (12) Olympic sport federations not part of LTOK: Lithuanian Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, Lithuanian Luge Federation, Lithuanian Softball Federation

References

External links

Lithuania at the Olympics Sports governing bodies in Lithuania Organizations based in Vilnius 1924 establishments in Lithuania {{Lithuania-sport-stub