Personal information | |
---|---|
Nationality | Latvian |
Born | Aizkraukle, Latvia | 9 June 1973
Sport | |
Country | Latvia |
Sport | Athletics |
Event(s) | Shot put Discus throw |
Coached by | Aldi Supulnieks |
Achievements and titles | |
Paralympic finals | 2000, 2004, 2008,2012, 2016 2020 |
Medal record |
Aigars Apinis (born 9 June 1973, in Aizkraukle) is a Latvian athlete. He participates in F52 class which means he has limited finger movement and no trunk or leg function.
He started to practice in 1998, but already at the 2000 Summer Paralympics he won two bronze medals – in discus throw and shot put. At the 2004 Summer Paralympics he became the Olympic champion in discus throw and was 4th in shot put. Apinis won the gold medal in discus throw at the 2016 Summer Paralympics. [1] At the 2020 Summer Paralympics, he won a bronze medal in Men's discus throw F52. [2]
In the fall of 2010 Apinis created resonance in the society, by stating that he is ready to sell his 2000 Sydney Paralympics bronze medal (first paralympic medal in the history of Latvia) in an auction, in order to provide Latvian Paralympic Committee with funds, which would allow Latvian delegation to participate in the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships. [3]
At the 2011 IPC (International Paralympic Committee) World Championships in New Zealand, Apinis won the gold medal in the shot put F52/53 category, [4] also setting a new world record [5] for his category.
Latvia, following its independence from the Soviet Union, made its Paralympic Games début at the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona, with a delegation of two athletes in track and field. It then sent Supulnieks as its sole representative to the 1994 Winter Paralympics, for its Winter Games début. Latvia has taken part in every subsequent edition of the Summer Paralympics, but missed the 1998 and 2002 Winter Games, appearing with a one-man delegation in 2006, before being absent again in 2010.
The 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships was held in Christchurch, New Zealand from January 21 to 30, 2011. Athletes with a disability competed, and the Championships was a qualifying event for the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
Chris Martin is a British Paralympian track and field athlete competing in category F33 throwing events. He has represented Great Britain in four Paralympic Games. Martin has won two gold and one silver Paralympic medals in Discus and Javelin and won three gold medals in the IPC World Championship. He was the World record holder from 1995 to 2005, IPC World Championship record holder from 1998 to 2011, Paralympics record holder from 1996 to 2008 all for F33 Discus.
Katherine Proudfoot is a cerebral palsy athlete from Australia competing mainly in throwing events. She competed in the F36 classification at the 2008, 2012 and the 2016 Summer Paralympics, winning medals at each Game. Following a medical review request in early 2017, she now competes in seated throws in the F32 classification. At the 2017 Australian Athletics Championships she threw 7.04m in the Women's Shot Put Secured event, bettering the Women's F32 shot put world record mark of 6.55m.
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Oney Tapia is a visually impaired Italian-Cuban Paralympic athlete competing in discus throw and shot put events. He represented Italy at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and he won the silver medal in the men's discus throw F11 event. He represented Italy at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in the discus throw and shot put events, winning two bronze medals.
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