2026 MEGA EVENTS INTERNATIONAL

37-th Am-Pro World Championship

45-th Am-Pro „World Grand Prix“

3-d „Neringa Mayor‘s Cup“

October 24 - 25, 2026, „Agila“ Palace,  Nida Resort, Lithuania

Official Documents, Articles, Statistics on Global Page www.wff.lt

CONTEST REGISTRATION on www.worldfitness.lt

2026 SPORT NEWS INTERNATIONAL.

REPORT OF W.F.F. – W.B.B.F. JAPAN.

We are pleased to announce that the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in Japan has officially decided to support the “IORIMPIA and W.F.F. – W.B.B.F. JAPAN” event planned for 2027 in Tajimi City.

This important cooperation agreement was arranged by our federation’s appointed W.F.F. – W.B.B.F. International President in Japan, Iori Nishizawa. Permission has also been granted to use the embassy’s logo. This regional event is growing into an international fitness event connecting countries and people. This is a significant new step for our federation. The embassy’s support has given us even stronger trust and a solid foundation for future growth. We will continue working together with local administration and many partners toward the successful organization of the event.

The city details, exact date, and full official program are still being finalized. A great beginning!

Official Information is on International Site www.wff.lt

REAL WORLD BODYBUILDING HISTORY.

SOLE MAN AGAINST U.S.S.R. POLITICAL POWER.

FIGHTS AGAINST BODYBUILDING PROHIBITION.

Fifty three years have passed since bodybuilding sport was prohibited and prosecuted in the U.S.S.R. and Socialist countries. Everybody keep silence as they have nothing to say. Yes, in 1973 most bodybuilders left the sport. Somebody went to weightlifting. Somebody went on with bodybuilding illegally. But – who dared to make real steps to fight with prohibition of bodybuilding by political powers? The only one and it was DSc. EDMUNDAS DAUBARAS. It is the right time to speak about this. We will tell the full story in the nearest future. We will cover the facts, we will present documents and we will make conclusions. Sure – the false „heroes“ will not like this.

SOLE MAN AGAINST U.S.S.R. POLITICAL POWER.

We will speak about the period of time afrer bodybuilding prohibition – after 1973. Topics of the article are:

-        Personalities of bodybuilding

-        Meetings of DSc. EDMUNDAS DAUBARAS at Ministry of Sport of the Č.S.S.R.

-        Meeting of DSc. EDMUNDAS DAUBARAS with Minister Sport of Lithuanian SSR

-        Discussions of DSc. EDMUNDAS DAUBARAS with U.S.S.R. press

-        Petition of DSc. EDMUNDAS DAUBARAS to U.S.S.R. Communist Party Central Committee in Moscow

-        Results, followers.

SOCIALIST BODYBUILDING PERSONALITIES.
SITUATION IN THE WORLD AND IN SOCIALISM.
In 1970, in Belgrade (Yugoslavia), the general secretary of F.I.H.C. (F.I.H., Fédération Internationale Haltérophile, later F.I.H.C., Fédération Internationale Haltérophile et Culturisme, and later I.W.F., International Weightlifting Federation), the British Oskar State, established the sports federation I.F.B.B. (International Federation of Body Builders). Until then, I.F.B.B. was a private commercial company, having nothing to do with official sport. Oskar State also organized the membership of the new I.F.B.B. federation in the international G.A.I.S.F. (Global Association of International Sports Federations). After more than twenty years of F.I.H.C. managing bodybuilding globally, since 1971, the I.F.B.B. federation began to lead world bodybuilding.
SOCIALIST BODYBUILDING PERSONALITIES.
Among the personalities of early socialist world bodybuilding in the U.S.S.R. were representatives from the R.S.F.S.R.: Genadij Baldin (Геннадий Балдин), Roman Moroz (Роман Мороз), Vladimir Dubinin (Владимир Дубинин). From Lithuanian S.S.R., they were Vytautas Zumeris, Valerijus Koreškovas (Валерий Корешков) — after the ban on bodybuilding, some chose heavy athletics, some completely left sports, and Vladimir Dubinin, after his loss in the 1974 international tournament “Georg Tenno Memorial” (“Georgo Tenno memorialas”, «Мемориал Георга Тенно», 1971–2025), left bodybuilding for thirteen years and did not interact with anyone from the bodybuilding world.
Later, after the coup in Lithuanian S.S.R. organized in 1973, when Juozas Jusevičius was unfairly removed from leadership, the leadership of Lithuanian S.S.R. bodybuilding was taken over for decades by Romanas Kalinauskas, who organized the coup, along with his irreplaceable assistants from Kaunas: Aleksandras Novikovas and Ramutis Kairaitis.
After the ban on sports in Klaipėda, bodybuilding took its original path. There was no one to follow. The former city bodybuilding leader, Antanas Jonuskutis, left Klaipėda, and those bodybuilders who wanted to continue training scattered to the basements of residential buildings.
Already in 1973, Dr. Edmundas Daubaras organized competitions of the remaining city bodybuilders in the old abandoned Klaipėda prison basement, and in 1974, he held the “underground” “Amber Prix” (Amber Prix International, “Gintarinis prizas”, «Янтарный приз», 1968–2026) tournament in a bomb shelter at the Klaipėda sea trade port. In 1975, Dr. Edmundas Daubaras secretly organized the “Amber Prix” again in one of Klaipėda’s secondary schools, and in 1976, Dr. Edmundas Daubaras held a public tournament with spectators in the Telšiai Culture House. Regardless of the ban on bodybuilding, in 1977, Dr. Edmundas Daubaras organized two public tournaments, including the “Amber Prix,” in the Klaipėda sea trade port cultural center. The halls were packed with spectators.
Similar events took place in other cities of Lithuanian S.S.R. and other Soviet Republics. Everyone was afraid of persecution and acted secretly. During the bodybuilding ban period, in the capital of Lithuanian S.S.R., under the cover of the sports society “Dinamo,” the “Vilnius Bodybuilding School” operated; however, during this period, it did not develop active work—it aimed to wait for better times. The school was led by Ceslav Tamulevic (Чеслав Тамулевич, 1945–2023) and Vitalij Asovskij (Виталий Асовский, 1952–2026).
During the bodybuilding ban years, there were no active organizers in Latvian S.S.R.
In Estonian S.S.R., Innar Mardo (1945–2002) managed to convince his government that, based on the traditions of past strongmen and wrestlers, bodybuilding was a “national sport.” Innar Mardo’s ideas found support in the government.
And that was all—there were no other prominent bodybuilding figures -  organizers in the U.S.S.R. at that time.
In 1975, bodybuilding in the Czechoslovakian S.S.R. was led by Vojtech Fiala. Thanks to personal connections, Vojtech Fiala organized the Czechoslovakian S.S.R. delegation’s trip to the I.F.B.B. European Championship, where Petr Stach became the Overall winner. This was a fantastic event during the period of the bodybuilding ban. In the same year, 1975, Dr. Edmundas Daubaras, while exchanging students at universities, worked in Prague, where he met Vojtech Fiala. The Czechs actively engaged Dr. Edmundas Daubaras, as he was the only Soviet bodybuilder to visit their country after the bodybuilding ban. In order to strengthen their position in the eyes of their political authorities, the Czechs demonstrated their “strong” ties with the Soviet Union through relations with Dr. Edmundas Daubaras. At the same time, in order to find out about the state of bodybuilding in the U.S.S.R., the leaders of Czechoslovakian S.S.R. bodybuilding wrote a letter to the before mentioned Genadij Baldin. Genadij Baldin explained that he was no longer involved in bodybuilding, as bodybuilding was disbanded and was under persecution. He wrote that only some individual organizers continued bodybuilding activities in the Baltic countries.

Detailed information, documents, articles and pictures are on International Site www.wff.lt

When the “Amber Prix” Had to Hide: The Story of Klaipėda’s Bodybuilding Breakthrough.

Bodybuilding was banned. Official clubs did not exist. Competitions could end in trouble. Yet in Klaipėda, athletes did not stop. They trained in a bomb shelter, competed in a prison basement, gathered in school gyms, and eventually stepped into the public eye. In this way, one of Lithuania’s most determined bodybuilding movements preserved and continued the tradition of the “Amber Prix.”

Today, as the 60th anniversary of one of the world’s oldest traditional bodybuilding competitions, the “Amber Prix,” approaches, it is difficult to imagine the circumstances under which this tournament survived. Today, the “Amber Prix” is associated with the stage, athletes, judges, spectators, and international bodybuilding. But there was a time when simply wanting to train was already a kind of challenge to the system. Bodybuilding was banned in socialist countries. Officially, it was supposed to disappear. In Klaipėda, it did not disappear. It went underground.

The Beginning – Before the Ban

The beginnings of bodybuilding in Klaipėda were shaped by Antanas Jonuškutis. He established a sports club on the premises of the Polytechnic and organized the first four “Amber Prix” tournaments, held in 1967, 1968, 1969, and 1970. These were the days when bodybuilding was only beginning to find its place in Lithuania’s sporting life. The first clubs, athletes, and competitions appeared. At the same time, however, competition was growing.

In 1970, Antanas Jonuškutis withdrew from organizational activities and completely distanced himself from bodybuilding. For some time, Klaipėda no longer had a single clear center. Athletes trained wherever and however they could. But this was only the calm before the storm.

A Bomb Shelter Becomes a Bodybuilding Club

The year 1971 became a turning point in Klaipėda’s bodybuilding history.

Vytautas Daubaras, an employee of the Klaipėda State Seaport, obtained premises in a bomb shelter belonging to the port on Sportininkų Street for young athletes to train. This was how the “Gintaras” club was established. The location itself sounds almost unbelievable today. A bomb shelter—a place intended to protect people from the dangers of war—became a place where young people were building their sporting futures. The “Gintaras” club quickly became the main bodybuilding center in Klaipėda. Around one hundred enthusiasts attended the club. These were no longer isolated athletes. They were a community. And this community was soon to face a ban.

When Sport Went Underground

The ban on bodybuilding changed everything.

The operation of official clubs became impossible, and competitions became illegal. Athletes had to choose: give up the sport they loved or continue training despite the circumstances. The people of Klaipėda chose the second path. Training did not stop. It moved to places that did not need to be spoken about openly.

In 1973, Edmundas Daubaras organized an illegal bodybuilding competition in the basement of the old city prison. The prison basement became the competition venue. That day, the athletes stepped onto the stage knowing that their sport was officially banned. In the senior category, Mindaugas Liaugaudas won, while Algimantas Ratas took first place among the juniors. These results matter not only because someone won. What mattered most was that the competition took place at all.

46 Athletes Defying the Ban

That same year, in 1973, Edmundas Daubaras brought together athletes from illegally operating clubs in Vilnius and organized a strength-dueling competition in Vilnius. Forty-six athletes from Vilnius, Klaipėda, and Šiauliai took part. The ban could close clubs, but it could not so easily destroy the connections between people. Athletes found one another. They met. They trained. They competed. In this way, not only their physical condition but also Lithuania’s bodybuilding community was preserved.

The “Amber Prix” Returns to Klaipėda

In 1974, a tournament for the “Amber Prix” was held at the “Gintaras” club, in the same bomb shelter on Sportininkų Street. Athletes from four underground bodybuilding clubs in Klaipėda took part. The competition was a full-fledged event. The athletes performed strength exercises, demonstrated the compulsory poses, and presented a free routine.

In the junior groups, the winners were Antanas Kazlauskas, Algimantas Ratas, and Sigitas Kišonas. In the youth categories, the strongest were Kęstutis Virketis and Evaldas Šorius. In the senior categories, the winners were Sigitas Vilutis and Vytautas Zenkevičius. Antanas Kazlauskas, Evaldas Šorius, and Vytautas Zenkevičius were named the overall winners in their respective age groups.

But behind the lines of the official results was something much more important. Every such victory was proof that the ban had not destroyed the sport.

The School Gym

In 1975, the “Amber Prix” tournament moved to one of Klaipėda’s general education schools. Athletes from Telšiai and Vilnius came to compete. In the junior groups, the winners were Leonidas Rodionovas, Rimas Apulskis, and Antanas Dobrodzejus. In the youth categories, first places went to Antanas Bašermanas, Algimantas Ruplys, and Aimontas Dolgichas. In the senior groups, the strongest were Vytautas Zenkevičius, Olegas Serovas, and Rišardas Krinickis. Rimas Apulskis, Algimantas Ruplys, and Rišardas Krinickis were named the overall winners.

The geography was expanding. Klaipėda was no longer the only point on the map. The bodybuilding movement was connecting different cities and different generations of athletes.

A Risky Step in Telšiai

In 1976, Edmundas Daubaras took another step.

He organized the “Amber Prix” tournament together with the “Žemaitija Cup” in Telšiai. The strength event took place at one of the city’s schools, while the physique presentation was held at the Telšiai Cultural Centre. This is where the story becomes particularly interesting. Bodybuilding was still banned. Yet the athletes had to appear in public. Edmundas Daubaras took a risk. He managed to convince the administration of the Cultural Centre that the event was not a violation. What is more, the Cultural Centre advertised the event to the residents of the city. And then something happened that perhaps few could have expected. The hall filled with people. Bodybuilding, which had been pushed underground, became a public spectacle for one evening. Athletes from Vilnius, Klaipėda, and Šiauliai took part in the competition. In the junior subcategories, the winners were Rimas Apulskis, Stasys Stanius, and Rimas Česaitis. In the youth categories, the winners were Antanas Bašermanas, Aimontas Dolgichas, and Evaldas Šorius. In the senior categories, the winners were Valentinas Vandys and Rišardas Krinickis. The overall winners were Rimas Apulskis, Evaldas Šorius, and Rišardas Krinickis. The competition went smoothly. Nothing happened that people had feared might happen.

And this changed Edmundas Daubaras’s understanding of what was possible.

1977: The Doors Open

After Telšiai, Edmundas Daubaras became even more confident.

With the assistance of his father, Vytautas Daubaras, the 1977 “Amber Prix” tournament was held at the Cultural Centre of the Klaipėda State Seaport. This time, only the physique presentation was included. There were no strength exercises. But the most important thing was not the program. It was the venue. A cultural centre. A public hall. Spectators. And athletes who only a few years earlier had competed in a prison basement were now standing before a packed audience. There was no official advertising. The spectators were brought to the event “live,” through word of mouth, by Klaipėda’s athletes themselves. The hall was packed with enthusiasts. Athletes from Vilnius, Kaunas, and Klaipėda took part. The journey from the bomb shelter to the Cultural Centre had been completed.

From the Underground to History

Looking back today, the journey seems almost symbolic.

In 1971, bodybuilding in Klaipėda found shelter in a bomb shelter.

In 1973, athletes competed in the basement of an old prison.

In 1974, the “Amber Prix” once again echoed underground.

In 1975, the competition was already being held in a school.

In 1976, the bodybuilders stepped onto the stage of the Telšiai Cultural Centre.

And in 1977, the “Amber Prix” appeared at the Cultural Centre of the Klaipėda State Seaport, before a packed audience. This was not merely a change in the geography of sporting events. It was a journey from the underground into the public eye. And along this journey, the most important thing was preserved: the tradition. During the years when bodybuilding was banned, it was not easy to train in Klaipėda. It was not easy to organize competitions. It was not even easy to meet with like-minded people. But there were people who refused to give up. Vytautas Daubaras provided a place for training. Edmundas Daubaras took the organizational risks. The athletes attended training sessions, prepared for competitions, and ignored the fact that their sport existed outside the official system. That is why the history of the “Amber Prix” is not simply a sequence of winners, records, and dates. It is a story of perseverance. A story about people who refused to let the tradition disappear. A story about a sport that, although banned, remained alive. And perhaps that is why, when looking back at the history of the “Amber Prix” today, it is important to remember not only those who stood on the stage and were announced as winners, but also those who took risks simply to make sure that the stage existed at all.

The “Amber Prix” never stopped. For a while, it simply took place where it was not supposed to.

More information is on international site www.wff.lt

The WFF-WBBF Professional “World Grand Prix” Held at the Embassy of the Slovak Republic

The history of the World WFF-WBBF Federation includes many remarkable international events, but one of the most memorable took place in 2012. That year, the professional “World Grand Prix” was organized at the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Moscow—an exceptional occasion in the history of world bodybuilding, as a major international professional championship was hosted on the premises of a diplomatic mission.

The venue offered ideal conditions for such an event. The Slovak Cultural Center, owned by the Embassy, included a hotel and a modern concert hall, allowing athletes’ accommodation, the competition, and official ceremonies to be held in one location.

The WFF-WBBF amateur “World Grand Prix” tournaments have been organized since 1990, while the professional series began in 2010. Over the years, these competitions have become one of the Federation’s most prestigious international projects, bringing together leading athletes from different countries.

The 2012 tournament was organized by Dr. Edmundas Daubaras, President of the World WFF-WBBF Federation, Federation Vice President Andrej Basov, and Slovak patron of sport Štefan Hrčka. In recognition of his contribution to the development of the sport, the event was officially named the “Stefan Hrcka Pro World Grand Prix.”

Participation was by personal invitation only. Thirty-six professional athletes representing Iran, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Estonia, and Lithuania competed in two weight categories for a total prize fund of 30,000 US dollars. At the time, this was already the fourth WFF-WBBF professional tournament held in 2012 with the same substantial prize fund.

Winners Up to 90 kg Mikhail Malek (Russia) Shahram Hassankhani (Iran) David Tukhtayev (Russia) Over 90 kg Abolfazi Aghakhani (Iran) Mehdi Aghababaei (Iran) Aleksandr Shevtsov (Estonia)

Following the competition, an international press conference was held to present the activities of the World WFF-WBBF Federation and the official results of the professional championship. The press conference was organized by multiple “Universe” champion, official WFF-WBBF representative in the United States, Hollywood actor, producer, and director Alexander Nevsky.

Conclusions

The 2012 “Stefan Hrcka Pro World Grand Prix” became one of the most distinctive events in the history of the World WFF-WBBF Federation. Hosting the championship at the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Moscow demonstrated not only an exceptional organizational standard but also the Federation’s growing international reputation and its close cooperation with diplomatic and public institutions.

The substantial prize fund, invitation-only participation, and international media coverage reflected the increasing prestige of professional bodybuilding within the WFF-WBBF movement. More than a decade later, this championship remains one of the Federation’s most unique and representative international professional events, highlighting its commitment to promoting bodybuilding on a truly global stage.

More information is on international site www.wff.lt