Sports in Lithuania

What sports are played in Lithuania?

The Lithuanian National Olympic Committee, Lietuvos tautinis olimpinis komitetas (LTOK), approved its 2025 results at its General Assembly on 6 March 2026. Sportas.lt's report of that session states: “2025 m. LTOK sudarė 65 nariai. Iš jų 40 – olimpinių sporto šakų federacijos (asociacijų bei sąjungų), 3 neolimpinių sporto šakų federacijos (pripažintos LTOK), 14 sporto organizacijų (asociacijos, federacijos, komitetai, sąjungos), 8 fiziniai asmenys.” In English: 65 members, of which 40 were Olympic-sport federations, three were non-Olympic federations recognised by the LTOK, 14 were other sports organisations and eight were natural persons.^[1]

The Law on Sport, in Article 12(1), names the Olympic, Paralympic, deaf sport, Special Olympics and sport-for-all movements among those that organisations in physical activity and high-performance sport develop in Lithuania.^[2] Olympedia's medals-by-sport table for Lithuania carries rows in athletics, modern pentathlon, shooting, swimming, rowing, wrestling, breaking, sailing, basketball, 3x3 basketball, boxing, canoe sprint, road cycling and weightlifting.^[3]

The national media divide sport the same broad way. The public broadcaster LRT's sport section has sub-sections for basketball, football, athletics, water sports, winter sports, motor sport, combat sports and other sport; the portal 15min's adds tennis, sailing, rugby and extreme sports.^[4][5] When retrieved on 25 September 2026, LRT's sport page carried, besides basketball, items on the European orienteering championships, a rallycross season final and the men's football team's next fixture.^[4]

What is the most popular spectator sport in Lithuania?

No measured ranking of spectator sports in Lithuania was retrieved. The proxies that were retrieved are television ratings and league attendance, and nearly all of them concern basketball.

Television. Kantar's television audience measurement in Lithuania (which announced on 25 February 2026 that it would trade in Lithuania as Fifty5Blue)^[6] publishes quarterly tables of each channel's most-watched programmes as a consolidated rating, including seven-day time-shifted viewing; its note states: “Tyrime dalyvauja apie 1200 respondentų (500 namų ūkių)”, about 1,200 respondents in 500 households.^[7] For January to March 2026 the tables list four EuroLeague games of Žalgiris on TV3 at 11.9 to 12.6 per cent, the King Mindaugas Cup game Rytas–Žalgiris on LRT Televizija at 11 per cent, and a FIBA World Cup qualifier, Iceland–Lithuania, at 9.7 per cent.^[8] For April to June 2026 they list Žalgiris's EuroLeague games against Fenerbahçe and Barcelona on TV3 at 12.9 to 14.2 per cent, and five LKL championship games involving Žalgiris on BTV at 4.6 to 6.5 per cent.^[7] The tables are limited to each channel's top programmes and are not a ranking of sports.

Attendance. The most recent completed-season total retrieved from the basketball league itself is for 2017–18. The LKL reported on 22 June 2018 that 211 games had been played that season and that “jose apsilankė kiek daugiau nei 523 tūkst. žiūrovų”, slightly more than 523,000 spectators, an average of 2,481 per game.^[9] 15min's own calculation, published in September 2023, gave an average of 1,566 spectators per game for the completed 2022–23 LKL season; that figure rests on that single secondary source.^[10] BasketNews published its own count on 10 May 2024: a regular-season average of 1,905 spectators per game in 2023–24, against 1,481 in the 2022–23 regular season. Those are the site's calculations, not the league's.^[11] No completed-season total for 2025–26 was retrieved from the league, and the 2026–27 season, which began on 19 September 2026, is in progress.^[12]

The number of players registered with the basketball federation could not be established: the federation's websites did not respond to retrieval. No completed-season attendance total for the top football division was retrieved.

How is sport organised in Lithuania?

The state. The Constitution, adopted by referendum on 25 October 1992, is titled the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania; in the Seimas's English text, Article 1 reads: “The State of Lithuania shall be an independent democratic republic.”^[13]

The statute. The Law on Sport is the Lietuvos Respublikos sporto įstatymas, No. I-1151 of 20 December 1995. It was restated in full by Law No. XIV-2859 of 27 June 2024, in force from 1 January 2025. The text read here is the consolidated edition in force from 30 June 2026, which the register lists as current; the latest amending act in its chronology is No. XV-609 of 27 November 2025.^[14] Article 1(1) sets the Law's scope, from sport principles and the sport system to anti-doping and match-fixing policy and state rewards for high-performance results. Article 4 reads: “Sporto sistema apima šias sritis: 1) fizinį aktyvumą; 2) aukšto meistriškumo sportą.” That is, the sport system covers physical activity and high-performance sport.^[2] Article 6(3) opens “Švietimo, mokslo ir sporto ministerija formuoja valstybės sporto politiką” — the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport shapes state sport policy — and goes on to list the ministry's further functions.^[2] Articles 18¹ to 18³ provide for the World Lithuanian Sports Games, their council and their funding.^[2]

The National Olympic Committee. The LTOK's statute, dated 28 January 2016, constitutes the committee as an association (asociacija). Article 20.2 requires the Olympic-sport federations that are members of international federations to hold the voting majority in its General Assembly and Executive Committee.^[15]

Founded, recognised and restored. These are separate dates, and the committee's own records give them as follows. Founded: “Lietuvos tautinis olimpinis komitetas pirmą kartą įkurtas tik 1937 m. gruodžio 18 d.” — first founded on 18 December 1937. Originally recognised: “1939 m. Lietuvos olimpinį komitetą pripažino ir Tarptautinis olimpinis komitetas.” Re-established: “LTOK atgimė 1988 m. gruodžio 11 d.”^[16] Recognition restored: the same history states that the IOC Executive Board, meeting in Berlin on 18 September 1991, decided to recognise the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian national Olympic committees de facto and to return the three countries to the Olympic Movement; it quotes the Board as stating that this was not a new recognition.^[16] The statute's Article 1.4 names a second date: “1991 m. lapkričio 11 d. Lozanoje TOK oficialiai paskelbė LTOK pripažinimą”, the IOC's official announcement in Lausanne on 11 November 1991.^[15] Olympedia's narrative states that the committee “was recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1991”.^[3] The history traces the committee's origins further back, to a fourth date: “Šalies nacionalinio olimpinio komiteto ištakos siekia 1922 m., kai buvo įkurta Lietuvos sporto lyga” — to 1922, when the Lithuanian Sports League was founded.^[16] Olympedia's own organisation entry for the committee could not be retrieved.

Football. UEFA records that the Lithuanian Sports League was admitted to FIFA in 1923, that the Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF) was “readmitted to FIFA on 9 December 1991”, and that the LFF became a UEFA member at the 1992 UEFA Congress in Gothenburg.^[17]

What are the main domestic leagues and competitions?

Basketball. The men's championship is run by the Asociacija Lietuvos krepšinio lyga, whose regulations for 2026–27 name it the „Betsson – LKL“; the league's site styles it “LKL, kurią remia Betsson”.^[12][18] The regulations list ten clubs: Kauno „Žalgiris“, Vilniaus „Rytas“, Panevėžio „Lietkabelis“, Utenos „Juventus“, Klaipėdos „Neptūnas“, Jonavos „Jonava Hipocredit“, Kėdainių „Nevėžis - Paskolų klubas“, Šiaulių „Šiauliai“, Gargždų „Gargždai“ and Tauragės „Tauragė“. The season runs from 19 September 2026 to 18 June 2027.^[12] The King Mindaugas Cup (Karaliaus Mindaugo taurė) is a separate cup competition; Kantar's first-quarter 2026 tables list a Rytas–Žalgiris game in it.^[8]

Žalgiris plays in the EuroLeague in 2026–27; on 25 September 2026 tv3.lt carried a report that it had begun its EuroLeague season with a win.^[19] LRT reported on 22 September 2026 that Rytas had begun the FIBA Intercontinental Cup in China with a win.^[4]

Football. The LFF's site names the men's top division TOPLYGA, also styled “TOPLYGA 2026”, and lists its fixtures alongside the men's national team's matches in the UEFA Nations League.^[20]

How has Lithuania performed at the Olympic Games?

All figures here are Olympedia's, from its tables for the code LTU, read as rows. Olympedia prints no totals row.

Before the Second World War. Olympedia's participation table lists Lithuania at the 1924 Summer Olympics with 13 athletes, the 1928 Summer Olympics with 12 and the 1928 Winter Olympics with one. Its medal tables carry no row for any of these editions.^[3]

From 1992. Olympedia's narrative states: “Lithuania returned to the Olympic fold in 1992 by competing at both Albertville and Barcelona.” Its participation table lists every Summer Games from 1992 to 2024 and every Winter Games from 1992 to 2026.^[3] The medals-by-Games rows typed Olympic Games are, in gold, silver and bronze: 1992, 1, 0, 1; 1996, 0, 0, 1; 2000, 2, 0, 3; 2004, 1, 2, 0; 2008, 0, 3, 2; 2012, 2, 0, 3; 2016, 0, 1, 3; 2020, 0, 1, 0; 2024, 0, 2, 2. All are Summer Games; the narrative states that “Lithuania has not yet won a medal at the Olympic Winter Games.”^[3] The medals-by-sport rows include athletics (3, 2, 2), modern pentathlon (1, 3, 1), rowing (0, 1, 3), basketball (0, 0, 3) and wrestling (0, 1, 1), with one-medal rows in shooting, swimming, breaking, sailing, 3x3 basketball, boxing, canoe sprint, road cycling and weightlifting.^[3] The narrative states: “Through 2022, Lithuanians have won 26 Olympic medals, six of them gold.” Its count stops before the 2024 row; this page uses the table rows.^[3]

Neither medal table carries a row for the art competitions or for the 1906 Games. Youth Olympic Games rows for 2010, 2014 and 2018 are typed separately and are not included above.^[3]

Other codes. Olympedia's narrative records that between 1952 and 1988 many Lithuanians competed for the USSR. Those results, including the 1988 Olympic basketball title, are filed under the Soviet Union and are not Lithuania's; none is included above.^[3]

Which athletes and teams are internationally recognised?

Men's basketball, EuroBasket. FIBA's table of EuroBasket editions lists Lithuania as gold medallist in 1937, in Latvia, ahead of Italy and France. It lists Lithuania as gold medallist in 1939, in Lithuania, ahead of Latvia and Poland. It lists a third title in 2003, in Sweden, ahead of Spain and Italy.^[21] The same table lists Lithuania as silver medallist in 1995, 2013 and 2015, and as bronze medallist in 2007.^[21]

Men's basketball, Olympic Games. Olympedia's 1992 rows list the men's team third, with bronze.^[22] Its 1996 rows list a second bronze.^[23] Its 2000 rows list a third bronze.^[24]

Athletics. Olympedia's 1992 rows list Romas Ubartas as gold medallist in the men's discus throw.^[22] Its 2000 rows list Virgilijus Alekna as gold medallist in the same event.^[24] Its narrative records that Alekna won the event again in 2004.^[3]

Other Olympic titles. Olympedia's 2000 rows list Daina Gudzinevičiūtė as gold medallist in women's trap shooting.^[24] Its 2012 rows list Laura Asadauskaitė as gold medallist in the women's modern pentathlon. They list Rūta Meilutytė as gold medallist in the women's 100 metres breaststroke.^[25]

What major international competitions has Lithuania hosted?

EuroBasket 1939 and 2011. FIBA's table of EuroBasket editions gives Lithuania as host of the 1939 edition and of the 2011 edition. Spain won in 2011, ahead of France and Russia.^[21]

FIFA Futsal World Cup 2021. FIFA announced on 30 April 2021 that the tournament would open on 12 September and that “the grand finale” would be played “at Kaunas Arena on Sunday, 3 October”, with Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda as host cities.^[26] UEFA's guide records the final of 3 October 2021 in Kaunas as Argentina 1–2 Portugal.^[27]

2025 world championships. UIPM's announcement of 26 August 2025 gives Kaunas as host of its 2025 Pentathlon World Championships, from 26 to 30 August.^[28] World Rowing's preview of 29 July 2025 gives Trakai as host of its 2025 Under 19 Championships, from 6 to 10 August.^[29]

What are Lithuania's main sporting rivalries?

Latvia, basketball. The first three EuroBasket editions in FIBA's table link the two teams: Latvia won the 1935 edition, Lithuania the 1937 edition, held in Latvia, and Lithuania the 1939 edition, held in Lithuania, with Latvia second in 1939.^[21] No head-to-head record from FIBA was retrieved.

Latvia and Estonia, football. The Baltic neighbours meet in the Baltic Cup. The counts that follow come from a single secondary statistics site, not from a federation's own record. 11v11 publishes Lithuania's men's record against Latvia as 17 won, 12 drawn and 29 lost; it lists Latvia v Lithuania on 8 June 2024, in the Baltic Cup, as a 0–2 win for Lithuania.^[30] It publishes the record against Estonia as 22 won, 10 drawn and 24 lost.^[31] Those two pages are Lithuania's side of the record, as 11v11 prints it.

Žalgiris and Rytas. The Kaunas and Vilnius clubs meet in the LKL and in the King Mindaugas Cup. Kantar's 2026 tables list their King Mindaugas Cup game on LRT Televizija and LKL championship games between them on BTV.^[8][7] No head-to-head count from the league was retrieved.

What is the role of school and university sport?

The statute. Article 15 of the Law on Sport governs sport in the education system. Part 1 reads: “Įgyvendinant ikimokyklinio ir priešmokyklinio ugdymo programas, vaikams užtikrinamas fizinis aktyvumas visą ugdymosi laikotarpį ne mažiau kaip po 2 valandas per dieną.” Part 2 reads: “Įgyvendinant pradinio, pagrindinio ir vidurinio ugdymo programas ir vykdant pirminį profesinį mokymą mokykline profesinio mokymo organizavimo forma, yra privalomos ne mažiau kaip 3 fizinio ugdymo pamokos per savaitę.” That is, at least two hours of physical activity a day in pre-school education, and at least three compulsory physical-education lessons a week in primary, lower-secondary and upper-secondary education and in school-based initial vocational training.^[2]

School games. The Lithuanian Agency for Non-Formal Education (LINEŠA) describes the Lithuanian Schools Games, Lietuvos mokyklų žaidynės, as “didžiausias mokiniams skirtas šalies renginys, kuriame dalyvauja mokyklos iš 59 šalies savivaldybių” — in its own words, the country's largest event for pupils, with schools from 59 municipalities. It states that pupils from grades 1 to 12 take part, that “Vaikai gali rinktis iš 20 sporto šakų”, and that the games run through the school year, ending with an Olympic Day celebration.^[32] It names kvadratas, athletics, a relay event and football as the most popular sports, each drawing more than 50 municipalities.^[32]

University sport. The Lithuanian Student Sports Association (Lietuvos studentų sporto asociacija, LSSA) links to FISU and the European University Sports Association from its site, and its 2026 calendar lists Lithuanian student championships in shooting and cross-country on 17 October 2026 and in sambo on 14 November 2026.^[33]

Were any sports invented in Lithuania?

None of the bodies whose documents were read — the LTOK, the Law on Sport, FIBA, UEFA, the LFF and LINEŠA — claims that a sport was invented or codified in Lithuania.^[16][2] The article headings of the consolidated Law on Sport that were read, Articles 1 to 20, name no national sport.^[2] LINEŠA lists kvadratas, a ball game, among the school-games sports without making any claim about its origin.^[32]