On 30 January ‒ 3 February 2024, the international training under the Olympic Values Education Program (OVEP) was held in Vilnius. The OVEP program, developed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is designed to reveal the unique potential of sport and physical activity, combining sport with education and cultural expression.

It was the second international OVEP training that the National Olympic Committee of Lithuania (LNOC) has organised in Lithuania. The first training event was held in 2019. This year, 20 participants from 20 different countries came to Vilnius. The organisers had to select the participants from among 80 applications received.

OVEP training events have been organised in Lithuania for eight consecutive years, as the LNOC was one of the first NOCs in the world to have the programme translated into the native language and, with the approval of the IOC, to offer a multi-level training to Lithuanian educators.

Kasparas Šileikis, Director of Olympic Education at the LNOC, says that the international training was designed to share Lithuanian good practice.

“All the participants have been involved in the Olympic movement in some way, working for Olympic Committees, Olympic Academies or sports federations. They all know what the Olympic Movement is about, but the idea of the training was to share Lithuania’s experience gathered over almost eight years when implementing the OVEP programme in our country. We wanted to develop the network of promoters of Olympic values and to raise ambassadors for the programme. I have no doubt that the foreign participants will now be able to organise similar training events in their own communities, or that they have at least improved their skills and will be more motivated to promote the Olympic values in their own organisations,” said Kasparas Šileikis.

OVEP training events are mostly experiential, engaging, and based on five subjects of Olympic education: respect for others, fair play, joy of effort, balance between body, will and mind, and pursuit of excellence.

“One of the objectives was to provide the participants with the possibility to see and experience the Olympic Values Education Programme, the development methods of non-formal education. This is what OVEP is famous for in Lithuania, because we actively use the non-formal education activities, which allow to experience all the values through practice and various activities. We believe that the international training provided a space for personal development as well, and improved social skills,” Kasparas Šileikis emphasised.

The benefits of the training are manifold, as the networking has created space for future cooperation ideas.

“For example, we very quickly found common ground with some Olympic Committees about the plans for the Erasmus+ project. Therefore, we may state that the international OVEP training was beneficial not only for the participants, but also for us,“ Kasparas Šileikis expressed his delight.

The training was conducted by professional lecturers Nerijus Miginis and Donatas Petkauskas, who have been working with OVEP since the beginning of the programme in Lithuania.

“During the five days, the foreign participants had to deal with numerous emotions and challenges, but without challenges there would be no lasting benefits. I think that everything was just perfect,” said Kasparas Šileikis.

The implementation of OVEP started back in 2016, and since then, it has been gaining more and more interest in Lithuania, with 150 training events implemented across Lithuania and more than 2,000 teachers from different subject areas participating. 19 certified OVEP trainers qualify to deliver the first level of OVEP training.

It is planned to continue the work by offering OVEP training events for educators, coaches and well-known athletes.