"It is a great achievement for Kaunas and the whole Lithuania and a great responsibility at the same time. During the recent years we have acquired valuable experience in organizing big sports events. I think that this experience and the infrastructure of sports in Kaunas helped us to win the right to organise the Games in 2017," Kaunas Mayor Andrius Kupcinskas said.

The International Children Games (ICG) is held annually since 1968 in a different city in the world. Recently the Games have taken place in such cities as Athens (Greece), San Francisco (USA), Reykjavik (Iceland), Bangkok (Thailand), Lanarkshire (Scotland) and Daeguu (South Korea).

In 2010, in the Games held in Manama City (Bahrain) the star of the swimmer Ruta Meilutyte lit for the first time. One of the most famous Lithuanian athletes was 13 years old at that time and won first places in 50 m and 100 m breaststroke, second place in 50 m freestyle swimming and third place in 4x100 m medley relay with Kaunas team.

"Kaunas is a great city which annually delegates many perspective sportsmen to the ICG. That is a big advantage in pursuit for the right to organise the Games," said President of the International Children Games Torsten Rasch.

From 1,500 to 2,000 sportsmen take part at the Games. 12-15 years old athletes usually compete in 6-10 different kinds of sport.

www.baltic-course.com