Thirteen athletes from Lithuania will be competing in biathlon, ski events and figure skating at the Winter Games starting on February 4 in Beijing this year. Lithuania’s national olympic committee (LTOK) chair, past champion Daina Gudzinevičiūtė said that conditions will be difficult due to the tension caused by the pandemic, but she believes both the leaders and athletes will rise to the occasion.
On January 24 it was announced that Gabrielė Leščinskaitė will join the men’s biathlon relay team, consisting of Karolis Dombrovskis, Linas Banys, Tomas Kaukėnas, and Vytautas Strolia. Ski competitors include Eglė Savickaitė, Modestas Vaičiulis, Tautvydas Strolia, and Ieva Dainytė with Andrejus Drukarovas and Gabija Šinkūnaitė in alpine skiing. Figure skaters Deividas Kizala and Paulina Ramanauskaitė are also competing.
With less than two weeks left until the winter games, both the Committee and the competitors still have much to do. Travel plans are complicated by restrictions on flights into China once the games begin, and safety precautions due to COVID-19 are still being finalized.
There are 90 Olympic Committees with 2900 athletes in the games to be held from February 4 to 20, in 109 events. A record-breaking 45% of the athletes are women. LRT.lt
