Lietuvos olimpinis krikštas: 1924 m. Paryžius

LTŠioje monografijoje apibūdintos Lietuvos sportininkų - futbolininkų ir dviratininkų debiuto VIII olimpinėse žaidynėse 1924 m. Paryžiuje aplinkybės, sporto organizacijų ir darbuotojų, sportininkų pastangos bei reikšmė Lietuvos sporto plėtotei, visuomenės požiūris į sportą.

ENThe year 1924 was especially important in the history of Lithuania’s physical education and sports. On 25 May the Lithuanian football players who played against the team of Switzerland at the VIII Olympic Games in Paris, were the first to enter the international sports arena. In the same year two Lithuanian cyclists participated in another international competition. During the 50 years of the Soviet occupation of Lithuania (1940-1990) this fact was suppressed or belittled. Stepas Garbačiauskas, who participated in the VIII Olympic Games, writes about his colleagues in his book "Sports in Independent Lithuania", published in the USA. Narbutas, like some other authors whose articles were published in independent Lithuania after 1991, claims that nobody was ready for the Olympic Games, and it was the last minute decision to send the athletes to Paris. Narbutas, basing himself on the archival sources and reminiscences of the first Olympians, presented a more exhaustive picture: the sources of the sport movement, the conditions for preparation and participation in the Olympic Games, the role of sports organisations, the public opinion, the causes of failure and the importance of all this for sports in the future. The larger part of Lithuania was ruled by tsarist Russia for 123 years (1795-1918). The Klaipėda region was occupied by Kaizer’s Germany until 1918. Lithuania, which used to be called the northwestern part of the Russian empire, was an economic, spiritual and cultural backwater. When Lithuania regained its independence in 1918, it was a small country (according to statistical data, on 1 January 1923 the population was 2,620,000, only 13 percent of whom were town dwellers). In 1920, when Poland occupied Vilnius and the region, Kaunas became a temporary capital. In 1923 Lithuania regained the Klaipėda region.World War I (1914-1918) weakened Lithuania both economically and financially. On 18 May 1919 the of Lithuanian Sports Union (LSS) was founded. In August 1920 it stopped existing. On 15 September the Lihuanian Union of Physical Education (LFLS) was founded; on 19 October a Union of Sports of Kaunas’ Jews called Makabi was founded. In 1921 the Sports Club of Kaunas’ Germans (KSK) was formed. An 22 March 1922 the most important institution of physical education and sports was organised - the Lithuanian League of Sport (LSL). Because of internal disagreements, another league was founded on 25 November 1923 - Lithuanian Football League (LFL). On 27 May 1922 the national Catholic sports organisation - the Gymnastics and Sports Federation of Lithuania was formed. On 17 March 1923 a sports club of the suburb of Kaunas Šančiai, called Kovas, was organised. On 8 October the Lithuanian Cyclists’ Union (LDS) was formed. Betwen 1921 and 1923 championchips of athletics, football, basketball, tennis, baseball and cycling were held. When the LSL was admitted to FIFA (the International Footbal Federation) on 21 May 1923, the road to the aproaching VIII Olympic Games was open. Unfortunately, there was a lack of money. Only 10,000 litas was allocated for the needs of the football players. Lithuanian team consisted of the forwards Juozas Žebrauskas (he played under name of Barstaitis for Kovas), Hansas Getcas (KSK), Stepas Garbačiauskas, the captain of the team (KSK), Stasys Sabaliauskas, Eduardas Mikučiauskas (both from Kovas); the halfbacks Leonas Juozapaitis, Vincas Bartuška, Stasys Razma (all from the LFLS); the backs Georgas Hardingsonas (KSK), Stasys Janušauskas (Kovas), the goalkeeper Valerijonas Balčiūnas (Kovas); reserves Juozas Žukauskas from Kovas and Vladas Byla (LFLS). The best goalkeeper Steponas Darius did not go to Paris for reasons unknown.The best goalkeeper Steponas Darius did not go to Paris for reasons unknown. The Lithuanian athletes were defeated 0:9 (0:4). Only two cyclists Juozas Vilpišauskas (LSD) and įsakas Anolikas (Макаbi) participated in the Olympic Games. They were financed by the LSL CK, LDS and Makabi. The cyclists failed to finish the 188 kilometre race, as did cyclists from other ten countries. The Olympic Games were a good lesson for the Lithuanian athletes and organisers. The preparation for the Olympic Games was hampered by the disagreements among sports organisations and diflferents views to physical education and sports. The supporters of "rational" physical education in the LGSF, copying the gymnastics systems of the hawks o f the Czechs and Sweden’s Lingo, tried to promote national games, mass gymnastics exercises (they urged to substitute football for a Lithuanian game called ripka), opposed the classical branches of sports from Europe, being especially hostile to football, box and cycling. In 1924 there were no suitable sports facilities in Lithuania, not a single stadium or sports hall. The first qualified football coach did not appear in Lithuania until 1924. Athletes played different games, practiced, competed, built playing fields, founded and led sports organisations without any methods of training. The pre-Olympic period between the end of 1923 and the first half of 1924 and the Olympic Games themselves were priceless for Lithuania - the attitude of the public and the government to physical education and sports was changing. The first Olympians announced to the world that Lithuania existed and sport was popular in the country. The LSL CK, which organised the participation of athletes in the Games, was in fact the first National Olympic Committee of Lithuania (LTOK) and the chairman of the LSL CK General Jonas Jurgis Bulota was the first president of the LTOK. [...].