Gintautas Umaras (born 20 May 1963) is a retired track and

road racing cyclist Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most comm ...

from

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, who represented the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

Seoul, South Korea Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

. There he won the gold medal in the men's 4 km individual pursuit and in the men's team pursuit, alongside

Viatcheslav Ekimov Viatcheslav Vladimirovich Ekimov (Russian Вячеслав Владимирович Екимов; born 4 February 1966) is a Russian former professional racing cyclist. A triple Olympic gold medalist, he was awarded the title of Russian Cyclis ...

, Dmitry Nelyubin and

Artūras Kasputis Artūras Kasputis (born 26 February 1967) is a retired track and road racing cyclist from Lithuania, who represented the USSR at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. There he won the gold medal in the men's 4.000 team pursuit, along ...

. During the Soviet time he trained at

Dynamo sports society "Dynamo", also Dinamo (; ; ; ka, დინამო, tr), is a sports and fitness society created in 1923 in the Soviet Union. The society was an association of multi-sport clubs whose members were drawn from the NKVD and, after World War II, ...

Klaipėda Klaipėda ( ; ) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the List of cities in Lithuania, third-largest city in Lithuania, the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, fifth-largest city in the Baltic States, and the capi ...

. For most of his career, he competed for the Soviet Union. He was a professional road cyclist from 1989 to 1991. Umaras achieved several world records: in 1984 he broke the record in men's 5 km individual pursuit; in 1985, 1986, and 1987 – in men's 4 km individual pursuit; and in 1988 – in men's 4 km team pursuit. Umaras was among the people who helped to establish the

National Olympic Committee of Lithuania The Lithuanian National Olympic Committee ( or ) is the National Olympic Committee representing Lithuania. History Lithuania's national Olympic committee was established and recognized in 1924. In the same year LTOK sent its first delegation ...

when Lithuania regained independence from the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. He was appointed as one of its vice presidents. Gintautas and his brother Mindaugas run several sport equipment shops in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

and

Major results

;1988 :

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

::1st

Individual pursuit The individual pursuit is a track cycling event where two cyclists begin the race from a stationary position on opposite sides of the track. It is held at over for men and women. The riders start at the same time and set off to complete the rac ...

::1st

Team pursuit The team pursuit is a track cycling event similar to the individual pursuit, except that two teams, each of up to four riders, compete, starting on opposite sides of the velodrome. Race format Both men's and women's events are competed over ...

References

1963 births Living people Lithuanian male cyclists Soviet male cyclists Lithuanian track cyclists Cyclists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Dynamo Sports Club sportspeople Olympic cyclists for the Soviet Union Sportspeople from Kaunas Olympic medalists in cycling Lithuanian Sportsperson of the Year winners Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR {{USSR-Olympic-medalist-stub