When the Soviet Union collapsed on December 26, 1991, the many individual republics hurried to create their new governments. One of these new nations was Lithuania, home to some of the greatest European basketball players of the time -- and the 1992 Olympics were fast approaching. Its government was so preoccupied with just trying to exist that it nearly was unable to register itself as an official basketball country with FIBA in time, but in a last-minute scramble, the Lithuanian basketball team secured their spot in those famous Barcelona Olympics. This is the underdog story of that 1992 team from somewhere in Eastern Europe that gave their tiny, brand-new nation its hope for a bright future.

CREDITS

Rick Loayza: Head researcher, writer, and voice

Jacob Loayza: Editor, producer, and publisher

MUSIC

"Korobeiniki" by The Osipov State Russian Folk Orchestra, Vera Nikolaevna Gorodovskaya, Vitaly Gnutov, and Rudolf Belov

"Horizons" by Roa

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