LSU student and a boxer E. Stanionis has promised to bring home an Olympic Medal

LSU student Eimantas Stanionis has been selected to represent Lithuania at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games. A promising boxer has demonstrated his considerable abilities in the boxing ring more than once, but the greatest victory was achieved last year, when E. Stanionis became a European Boxing Champion. Sport experts claim that the young boxer has a great opportunity to bring an Olympic medal to Lithuania.

We are proud of the Olympic, World and European champions, but there are few who realise that athletes’ achievements are inseparable from well-trained coaches. Lithuanian Sports University is the only one preparing these specialists in Lithuania, and the study programme “Sports Coaching” is among the top ten in our country.

Eimantas has also opted for “Sports Coaching” studies at Lithuanian Sports University and intends to become a coach after his professional athlete's career comes to an end. Every day he trains intensely in a boxing hall, because the victory takes a lot of effort: two workouts per day, responsible competitions and studies at university.

“It is not possible to be in the best physical shape all the time; overwork can take away everything you have been working for. I exercise twice a day — in the morning and in the evening. I try to get as much sleep as I can, eat at the same time every day and have a really good rest after the most strenuous evening workout. This is my daily routine before an important competition”, said E. Stanionis.

Eimantas Stanionis’s success is inseparable from the University lecturer, honoured boxing coach of Lithuania Doctor of Biomedical Sciences Vidas Bružas, who has been acknowledged as the best Lithuanian sports coach of 2015. The experienced specialist has revealed that it requires not only effort, but also science-based training methodologies to prepare an elite athlete. A coach has to face such challenges as management of sports training processes and development of a personality, which requires not only knowledge and professional competencies, but also a broad university education.

“Boxer training is special because of the need to develop more than one of the sportsman’s features: speed, strength, endurance, agility and coordination. It is necessary to understand why to choose one or the other method, a certain load or what is currently happening in the human body, as it is a very complicated process. It is impossible to bring up an elite athlete without certain knowledge”, said Eimantas’s coach V. Bružas.

A European Boxing Champion E.Stanionis is a student of “Sports Coaching” study programme. According to Eimantas, it is not easy to combine studies and professional sport, but Lithuanian Sports University offers excellent conditions. “I am really glad that I can combine studies and sport. When I started my studies, I had to leave to spend two months in sports camps, and later I had to participate in the world championship. However, as soon as I came back I took the examinations and tried to catch up with the classmates. All the knowledge that I get at the university helps me now and it will help later when I become a coach. My coach Vidas Bružas emphasizes the importance of education. He analyses my fights pointing out the opponent's weaknesses and my strengths. I make use of this knowledge, and, as you can see, the results are not bad”, said one of the most promising athletes of our country with a smile.

V. Bružas, who has been training E. Stanionis for eight years, is pleased with his success in studies and in a boxing ring. “Eimantas is a young, hard-working, strong-willed and goal-oriented athlete. I have no doubt that he will succeed in the Olympics to be held in summer”, he said.

The boxer is already thinking about the Olympics. “Future fights in the Olympic Games are in my mind at present. Later, when my professional career as an elite athlete comes to an end I want to become a good coach and reach heights in this area. I will do anything to become the best”, he said.

Lithuanian Sports University is a specialized university in Lithuania and the Baltic countries, uniting motor and sports science. It is the birthplace of Lithuanian sport, as our university is the only one preparing coaches. “Sports Coaching” study programme offers specializations of 32 sports. Upon completion of the study programme, a double Bachelor’s degree of a Bachelor of Sports and Pedagogy is awarded.

Lithuanian Sports University is the beginning of victories to be reached by you!