Vladislovas Česiūnas (15 March 1940 – 16 January 2023)[1][2] was a Lithuanian sprint canoeist who competed in the early 1970s, representing the Soviet Union.

He later became known for his role in "The Česiūnas Affair" when he defected from the 1979 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Duisburg, West Germany only to return to the Soviet Union afterward for his "misconduct".

[7] The Soviets claimed that Česiūnas had met a woman named Ursula Vorkhert who invited to spend the night with him and then drugged him up.

[7] The Soviets later toned down their rhetoric on the incident, stating Česiūnas had "got into dubious company" while the West Germans continued to maintain he had been kidnapped.

[3] In 2002, telephone interview with the Los Angeles Times, Česiūnas stated he returned from West Germany voluntarily but was threatened by Soviet officials with fifteen years of hard labor in a coal mine for his defection and was not imprisoned only due to the upcoming Summer Olympics in Moscow.