Lithuanian Collector Coins

20 EURO COIN DEDICATED TO THE XXXI OLYMPIC GAMES IN RIO DE JANEIRO

Olympic Rio de Janeiro carnival

Until the Olympics, Rio de Janeiro — the population of which is more than six million (more than 10 million including the suburbs) — was commonly associated with colourful carnivals, the giant statue of Christ the Redeemer, towering over the city, and the sandy beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema.The second most populous municipality in Brazil was selected to host the Games of the XXXI Olympiad during the 121st session of the International Olympic Committee in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2009. In the last round of the voting, Rio de Janeiro defeated Madrid (Spain) by 66 votes to 32.Rio (such is the o� cial name on the emblem) became the � rst city in South America to host the Olympic Games. A record number of countries (206) is expected to participate in the Games. More than 10,500 athletes will � ght for 306 sets of medals in 28 sports games, which will take place at 33 venues. The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games will be held in the Maracanã Sta-dium on 5 August 2016, whereas the closing ceremony — on 21 August 2016.

The Lithuanian Olympic series

The Bank of Lithuania continues its tradition of 20 years to release a collector coin for each Summer Olympic Games. The coin is always dedicated to a sport in which the Lithuanian athletes have achieved or may achieve the most success.The 50 litas silver coin dedicated to the XXVI Olympic Games in Atlanta (USA), issued in 1996, featured two basketball players. The concept proved to be prophetic — Lithua-nians won the Olympic bronze in basketball.After four years, we greeted the XXVII Olympic Games in Sydney (Australia) with a coin bearing the image of a discus thrower. The prophecy was once again surprisingly ac-curate — Virgilijus Alekna took home the gold.The Games of the XXVIII Olympiad were held in Athens (Greece) in 2004; the coin dedicat-ed to them featured cyclists. The concept was inspired by the win in Sydney — the bronze that Diana Žiliūtė won; yet sadly, the cyclists did not receive any medals.A stylised runner accompanied us to the XXIX Olympic Games in Beijing (China). Even though Lithuanian athletes did not win any medals on the running tracks, pentath-letes who rushed to the � nish line in their � nal event nabbed not one, but two medals: Edvinas Krungolcas — a silver, while Andrejus Zadneprovskis — a bronze medal.The coin dedicated to the Games of the XXX Olympiad, held in London (United King-dom) in 2012, depicted sailing — a sport in which Gintarė Volungevičiūtė-Scheidt won a silver medal.Now, in 2016, an image of a swimmer sends us o© to the Olympic Rio, as the golden � nish of Rūta Meilutytė in London still has not faded from our memories. So what will the commemorative coin feature in 2020, when the Games will be held in Tokyo (Japan)? Taking into account the predictions and sports that have not been featured yet, it is likely that it will bear the image of rowers.

Gintaras Nenartavičius

20 EURO COIN DEDICATED TO THE XXXI OLYMPIC GAMES

IN RIO DE JANEIRO

Silver Ag 925 Quality proof

Diameter 38.61 mmWeight 28.28 g

On the edge of the coin: XXXI OLIMPIADOS ŽAIDYNĖS (GAMES OF THE XXXI OLYMPIAD)

Designed by Rūta Ničajienė and Giedrius Paulauskis

Mintage 7,000 pcsIssued in 2016

Information at the Bank of LithuaniaTel. (8 5) 268 0316E-mail: gpt@lb.lt

www.lb.ltCoins were minted at UAB Lithuanian Mint

www.lithuanian-mint.lt

Lithuanian Collector CoinsBank of Lithuania, 2016

Coins photographed by Arūnas BaltėnasDesigned by Liudas Parulskis

The publication uses photographs by Alfredas Pliadis and Vygintas Skaraitis as well as photographs from marchello74, puckillustrations, Sondem from Fotolia.com and BFL agencies

Published by the Bank of Lithuania, Gedimino pr. 6, LT-01103 Vilnius

Printed by UAB LODVILA, www.lodvila.lt

There is no greater reward and honour for an athlete than to win Olympic gold. Only the most hard-working and talented manage to reach the Olympic dream, uplifting the whole country.Lithuania made its Olympic debut in 1924. After participating in the Olympic Games once again four years later, Lithuania — as an independent country — went o© the grid for a long period of time.During the Soviet occupation, Lithuanians could compete in the Games only as part of the Soviet Union team. In 1952–1988, their victories were under the shadow of the crimson ³ ag; however, back at home they were admired and hailed as national heroes. As members of the Soviet team, boxer Danas Pozniakas, canoeist Vladislavas Česiūnas, swimmers Lina Kačiušytė and Robertas Žulpa, biathelte Algimantas Šalna, athlete Remigijus Valiulis, cyclists Artūras Kasputis and Gintautas Umaras, cross-country skier Vida Vencienė, as well as members of the volleyball, handball, basket-ball and football teams all brought back gold medals to Lithuania.At the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games, the tricolour will wave for the seventh time in a row. Twenty-four years have passed since the winning discus throw of Romas Ubartas and the bronze medal — which in our eyes shined like gold — of our basketball team in Barcelona (1992), marked with victories of Lithuanian athletes that � lled us with wonderful emotions.Athletes of Independent Lithuania have won six gold medals, � ve silver medals and ten bronze medals. They brought back at least one award from each Sum-mer Olympics. Discus throwers Romas Ubartas and Virgilijus Alekna, trap shooter Daina Gudzinevičiūtė, modern pentathlete Laura Asadauskaitė and swimmer Rūta Meilutytė were all awarded gold medals. The basketball team took the bronze three times.At the Summer Olympics, Lithuania was represented by 222 athletes; they competed in 18 sports games. Twenty-seven athletes, competing in six sports, participated in the Winter Olympics; alas, they did not win any medals. Until now, the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing hosted the largest Lithuanian delegation (71 athletes); however, it may be even larger this time round in Rio.

The youngest and the � nest

Four years ago only swimming experts knew what Rūta Meilutytė is really capable of, but even they were dumbfounded when, at the Summer Olympics in London on 30 July 2012, Meilutytė won the gold medal in the women’s 100-metre breaststroke with a sterling time of 1:05.47.At the age of only 15 years and 133 days, the youngest Lithuanian Olympian in history rewrote many world records. Her name became known to billions of people around the world, while her gaze and smile were easily recognisable not only to sports fans.In three years Meilutytė became the � rst and only athlete to win all possible swimming titles in all age groups. After triumphs at the European Youth Olympic Festival, the Olympic Games and the World Championships, in 2014 her crown was bejewelled with yet another victory at the Youth Olympics and the European Championships. At that time the swimmer was only 17.The � ght for sports titles, however, is not the same as pursuing academic degrees. In sports, you have to prove yourself anew in each and every game — mistakes have the same con-sequences for both rookies and Olympic champions. Still, the golden girl would probably prefer to forget 2015: she did not win the World Cham-pionships that year and su© ered an unfortunate bicycle accident. The elbow injury after falling o© a bicycle led to a more than six-month-long hiatus in her career. This was a true test of patience and will for both Meilutytė and her coach Jon Rudd. Nonetheless, Rūta came back stronger than ever and will go to Rio with the ultimate goal — to take the Ol-ympic gold. World sports analysts forecast that in Brazil a medal might be awarded not only to Meilutytė, but also to Laura Asadauskaitė-Zadneprovskienė, the modern pentathlon star, and the double sculls rowing team. The basketball team and the boxers might shine as well.

Lithuania’s Olympic mission

Beijing, 2008, photograph by Alfredas Pliadis

Welcome home ceremony for Olympians in 2012, photograph from BFL

Rūta Meilutytė, London, 2012, photograph by Alfredas Pliadis