Lithuanian Sports Trivia Quiz

Answer: Basketball

Arvydas Sabonis was born in Kaunus in Lithuania in 1964. He made his professional basketball debut in 1981 playing for BC Zalgiris in Kaunas before spending time playing in Spain. Sabonis first entered the NBA draft in 1985 and was selected by the Atlanta Hawks but this was declared void as Sabonis was under 21. Sabonis entered the draft again in 1986 and was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers however he was blocked from playing in the USA by the Soviet authorities as at the time Lithuania was part of the Soviet Union. Following the breakup of the USSR Sabonis was finally able to play in the USA playing with the Portland Trail Blazers from 1995-2001 and for a final season 2002-03.

Answer: Soccer

The A Lyga is the top soccer league in Lithuania. The league was re-established in 1991 following Lithuania's independence from the USSR (Lithuanian teams had played in USSR football leagues before this). The name A Lyga has been in use since 1999. The top placed team in the A Lyga qualifies for the qualification rounds of the UEFA Champions League competition.

Answer: Swimming

Ruete Meilutyte was born in Kaunas, Lithuania, before moving to the city of Plymouth in the UK as a child. Meilutyte won gold in the women's 100m breaststroke at the London 2012 Olympics at the age of 15 (become the youngest athlete from Lithuania to win a gold medal). As well as medalling at the Olympics, Meilutyte also won multiple medals at World and European swimming championships.

Answer: Road Race

Edita Pucinskaite was born in the new town of Naujoji Akmene in the north of Lithuania. She originally wanted to be a runner but was encouraged to try cycling by a coach. In a career stretching from 1994 - 2010 she won many women's road cycling events including the Giro d'Italia Femminile.

She became the UCI road race World Champion in 1999, when she also won bronze in the time trial event. Pucinskaite also won road race bronze at the 1995 Championships and silver in 2001.

Answer: Barcelona 1992

Romas Ubartas was a discus thrower who won the Olympic gold medal at the 1992 Summer games in Barcelona. He had previously won the silver medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics competing for the USSR. His gold medal was one of two medals won by Lithuania at the 1992 games with the other being a bronze medal won by the men's basketball team.

Answer: True

Zydrunas Savickas was born in the town of Birzai in Lithuania and competed in powerlifting before moving to the sport of strongman. During his career Savickas won numerous international strongman competitions including winning the prestigious Worlds Strongest Man title 4 times in a career stretching from 1998 to 2018.

Answer: Goalball

Goalball is a Paralympic sport played by blind and partially sighted athletes. Teams compete to score goals by throwing a ball down the court and in to the opposing team's goal. The ball has bells inside it to help the athletes locate it. There are three players on court per team at any one time.

At the 2016 Paralympic Games held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the Lithuanian men's goalball team beat the USA 14-8 in the final to win the gold medal.

Answer: Ice Dancing

Povilas Vanagas was born in Sialiai, Lithuania, in 1970 while Margarita Drobiazko was born in Moscow, Russia, in 1971. When the skaters first started competing together they represented the USSR but following the dissolution of the Soviet Union they elected to represent Lithuania with Drobiazko becoming a Lithuanian citizen in 1993.

The couple won the bronze medal at the World Figure Skating Championships in 2000, the same year they got married.

Answer: False

Ricardas Berankis was a Lithuanian tennis player who was born in Vilnius in 1990. He reached the his highest ranking of world number 50 in May 2016.

Answer: Futsal World Cup

Futsal is a form of soccer played by teams of five on a hard, indoor court and with a smaller, harder ball than the traditional outdoor game. Lithuania was selected to host the ninth FIFA Futsal World Cup (it was originally scheduled for 2020 but was postponed until 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic).

As hosts Lithuania were guaranteed entry making this Lithuania's first FIFA tournament. The tournament was won by Portugal who defeated Argentina 2-1 in the final. Lithuania lost all their group games and finished bottom of Group A.