[1][2] Along with Alekna, Stombergas, and Gudzineviciute, road cyclists and twin sisters Jolanta and Rasa Polikevičiūtė and javelin thrower Rita Ramanauskaitė made their third Olympic appearances as the most experienced members of the team.

Other notable Lithuanian athletes included Stombergas' teammate and NBA basketball star Darius Songaila, track cyclist Simona Krupeckaitė, and two-time world champion Andrejus Zadneprovskis in men's modern pentathlon.

Discus thrower Alekna was originally placed in a silver medal spot, but eventually defended his Olympic title at the time of the medal ceremony, when Hungary's Róbert Fazekas committed an anti-doping violation for failing to submit a proper urine sample during the test, which ended up in a disqualification.

[3] Meanwhile, heptathlete Austra Skujytė and modern pentathlete Zadneprovskis rounded out the Olympic podium with a silver medal each for the Lithuanian team.

A few days before the medal ceremony took place, Hungary's Róbert Fazekas committed an anti-doping violation by failing to submit a proper urine sample during the test, and was eventually expelled from the Games, lifting Alekna's position to a gold medal and more importantly, a defense for his Olympic title.