Lithuanian Sport Centre (LSC) is a state budget institution of the Republic of Lithuania and its purpose is toensure an appropriate exploitation of the residential and sport infrastructure that was created by the country and given over to manage for the purposes of preparation of athletes, the organisation of physical education and sport events and other activities, which are useful for the public.
History
The first Vilnius sports boarding school of general education opened on the 1stof September, 1986. The new school’s purpose was to prepare new athletes for the national teams, i.e. the highest league athletes candidates to the Olympic teams, also, to organise education for school kids, their development while ensuring normal living conditions. This was the first institution where kids with great physical preparation from all over Lithuania could start their serious athletic career by living and studying there.
During many structural changes, the name of the sports boarding school was changed to the National Vilnius higher school of the Olympic reserve, the preparation centre for national teams.
It was named the Lithuanian Olympic Sport Centre (LOSC) of the Department of Physical Education and Sports under the Government of the Republic of Lithuanian 1997. The main purpose of LOSC was a successful preparation of athletes for the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.
The new cycle of preparations for the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney started in 1997 too. During this process LOSC had one of the most important roles: to organise, coordinate, control the methodical, scientific, medical activities and the level of the material technical supply according to the programme “Sydney 2000”. A successful participation of the national team in Sydney Olympic Games proved that the reorganisation was necessary and it paid off.
As per usual, after the end of the Olympic Games, all the previous work of the Olympic cycle is reviewed and evaluated, positive and negative aspects are assessed, conclusions are made and changes to the next cycle are planned. Therefore, while carrying out the programme “Athens 2004“, the functions of LOSC were expanded: to execute national team’s preparation, organise and implement trainings, set up exercise time and place, agree on and confirm plans prepared by the head coaches, manage their execution, budget, take care of the living environment for the athletes and their nutrition, carry out trainings together with the sport federations and coaches, organise medical care for the athletes, supply the team with equipment, wardrobe, medical and scientific appliances, analyse and evaluate the competition results of the athletes, make conclusions and give proposals while using the budget rightfully.
High results of Lithuanian athletes in Sydney and Athens Olympic Games proved that systematic preparation formed a high quality preparation system for athletes.
LOSC created separate programmes that performed different functions and were aimed at different goals while developing a centralised preparation model for the national team of Lithuania and implementing “Beijing 2008”.
The preparation programme for the Lithuanian national team.
The executors of the programme were responsible for organising of the preparation of athletes until the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, work planning, educational, scientific and medical tests, services. They also made plans for sport trainings, control and participation in competitions, ensured the use of the budget, organised recovery, treatments, rehabilitation, were responsible for the preparation of athletes who were playing for foreign clubs, defended their rights, social needs and were accountable for their results in European and World competitions as well as the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
The preparation programme for the replacements of the Lithuanian national team.
Together with other interested organizations LOSC presented a fixed Olympic athletes list for replacement who were preparing for the 2012 London’s Olympic Games, organised programme plans for the long-term and the current year, sports camp, executed educational, scientific and medical tests.
The preparation programme for promising replacement athletes. LOSC ensured optimal living, learning, feeding and training conditions for talented and gifted athletes who after participating in competitions would be able to attend the 2016 Olympic Games. For that purpose, together with scientists, medics and coaches they created criteria for the evaluation of athletes, a selection system, rationally planned and executed sport training, planning, controlling and other processes. They carried out a training process with a variable contingent of a suitable age of national teams right before the European, International youth competitions, European Olympic youth festivals and also scientific-medical tests, rehabilitation, treatment.
LOSC applied an analogical model while preparing athletes for the 2012 London, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games as well as the 2010 Vancouver and the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.
Since 1997 LOSC athletes have won 21 medal in the Olympic Games: 4 in Sydney in 2000, 3 in Athens in 2004, 5 in Beijing in 2008, 5 in London in 2012 and 4 in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Since the middle of 2016, the Department of Physical Education and Sports under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania narrowed the functions of LOSC. The preparation programme for promising replacement athletes was closed in 2016, together with the preparation programme for the replacements of the Lithuanian national team since the beginning of 2017 and the preparation programme for the Lithuanian national team since the beginning of 2018.
Since the beginning of 2018 the purpose of LOSC has been to ensure an appropriate exploitation of the residential and sport infrastructure that was created by the country and given over to manage for the purposes of preparation of athletes, the organisation of physical education and sport events and other activities, which are useful for the public.
Since 2019 the name of LOSC was changed to the Lithuanian Sport Center (LSC).
Since 2021 the Lithuanian Sports Medicine Center is connected to the Lithuanian Sports Center and becomes the Sports Medicine Department of the Lithuanian Sports Center.
LSC manages the following: Ozas sports base (Ozo str.39B, Vilnius), Athletics hall (Žemaitės str. 6, Vilnius), Stadium “Vingis” (M. K. Čiurlionio str. 112, Vilnius), Shooting range (St. Batoro str. 90A, Vilnius), Trakai sports base (Karaimų str. 73, Trakai), Tennis court (M. K. Čiurlionio str. 112, Vilnius), Stadium (J. I. Kraševskio g. 2, Vilnius), Sports complex "Druskininkai" (M. K. Čiurlionio street. 115A, Druskininkai), Ring of the Nemunas (Nemuno street. 20, Gaižėnėliai village, Kaunas district).