Lithuanian sports clubs and organizations in the diaspora as well as those in Lithuania are invited to register for the XI World Lithuanian Games to be held in Druskininkai, Lithuania, from July 14 to 17, 2022. Individual athletes are not allowed to register. Preliminary electronic applications to participate will be accepted until January 31, 2022. Final registrations must be completed by May 1, 2022. Application forms are available at www.sportozaidynes.lt, and completed forms are to be sent by email to [email protected].
The World Lithuanian Games are for non-professional players. There will be 27 types of sports at the Games, including badminton, soccer, golf, basketball, track and field, orienteering, swimming, sports fishing, paddleboarding, petanque, wrestling, and others.
The World Lithuanian Games program includes the World Lithuanian Sports Forum, and a conference on the History of World Lithuanian Sports and their Future.
The tenth World Lithuanian Games were held in Kaunas in 2017, with more than 3,800 participants, including 1,200 Lithuanians of the diaspora from 25 countries.
During the first independence period the games were called the Lithuanian National Olympics and were initiated in Kaunas in 1938. They were banned after the occupation, and held for the first time after 40 years in 1978 in Toronto, Canada, then were held in Chicago (USA), Adelaide (Australia), then returned to Lithuania in 1991.
The sponsor of the XI World Lithuanian Games is president Gitanas Nausėda, and the event is organized under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports, the World Lithuanian Games Association, the World Lithuanian Community, the World Lithuanian Youth Association.
