Olympic Day is an annual sports festival for the whole family, promoting physical activity, healthy lifestyle, and community spirit. Over more than three decades, it has become the largest event of the Olympic movement in Lithuania.
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At the end of the festival, the traditional Olympic Day flag handover ceremony took place. Kaunas handed over the symbolic event flag to Jonava, which will become the new Olympic Day capital in 2027. The flag was received from the President of the Lithuanian National Olympic Committee, Olympic champion Daina Gudzinevičiūtė, by the Mayor of Jonava District Municipality, Mindaugas Sinkevičius.
According to the President of the Lithuanian National Olympic Committee, Daina Gudzinevičiūtė, this year’s Olympic Day was full of good emotions, and every participant of the event could find activities close and interesting to them. “Next year, Jonava will face a serious challenge – not only to repeat but also to surpass the bar set by Kaunas. We sincerely wish them that. Thanking Kaunas for its hospitality, cooperation, and perfectly organized festival, we hand over the symbolic Olympic Day flag as a token of gratitude for its significant contribution to fostering the Olympic movement in Lithuania,” said the Olympic champion.
“It is a great honor and responsibility to take over this Olympic Day flag from Kaunas. Jonava has been repeatedly recognized for its sports infrastructure, is acknowledged as a sporty city, so organizing this festival is important and meaningful for us,” said Jonava Mayor Mindaugas Sinkevičius. “Kaunas, as always, set a very high bar, but Jonava is an ambitious city, so we will strive not only to reach it but also to raise it even higher.”
The event was also attended by Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė, who tried various activities and emphasized the importance of events like Olympic Day in promoting physical activity and love for sports: “Olympic Day brings us all together in a common space and reminds us of the important place sports hold in our lives. Through sports, we can not only strengthen our health but also communicate, get to know each other, and build community. This beautiful tradition has been traveling across Lithuania for many years, so I am glad that this year it is taking place in Kaunas.”
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In 2018, the LTeam Olympic Winter Festival took place in Jonava’s Joninės Valley – at that time, the largest winter sports event in Lithuania, bringing together thousands of winter sports enthusiasts, families, and Olympians from all over the country.
Since 2015, Olympic Day has become a traveling festival and takes place in a different Lithuanian city each year. The event has already visited Vilnius, Alytus, Šiauliai, Panevėžys, Klaipėda, and Kaunas, and in each city, it gathers thousands of fans of sports, active leisure, and Olympic values. The traveling format of the event allows the Olympic movement to be brought closer to different Lithuanian communities and to promote physical activity throughout the country.
Olympic Day is celebrated annually worldwide, and national Olympic committees organize various initiatives promoting physical activity and Olympic values on this occasion. In Lithuania, over more than three decades, this event has grown into one of the largest Olympic movement festivals of its kind in Europe, annually gathering thousands of participants, hundreds of volunteers, dozens of sports federations, and Olympians from all over the country.
At this year’s Olympic Day, visitors could try dozens of sports and active entertainment for the whole family. The event included the traditional Lithuanian Olympic Mile run, a 3×3 basketball tournament, activities organized by various sports federations, meetings with Lithuanian Olympians, and much more.
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