Sportin Latvia includes basketball, football, ice hockey, athletics (track), rugby, tennis, cycling, and others. Ice hockey is the most popular of the Latvian sports and is closely followed by basketball. Some of Latvia's most notable athletes include hockey player Sandis Ozoliņš, football player Māris Verpakovskis, Olympic javelin thrower Jānis Lūsis, two-time Olympic BMX champion Maris Strombergs, and basketball player Kristaps Porziņģis. The national sport of Latvia is ice hockey.
Misty Elizabeth May-Treanor is a retired American professional beach volleyball player. She is a three-time Olympic gold medalist, and as of August 2012, was the most successful female beach volleyball player having won 112 tournaments in domestic and international competition.
Philip Peter Dalhausser is an American former professional beach volleyball player, who played as a blocker. He and his former playing partner, Todd Rogers, were the 2007 AVP Tour and FIVB world champions.
Reinder Aart Nummerdor is a Dutch volleyball player who represented his native country at five consecutive Summer Olympics. Two times as a member of the indoor volleyball team in 2000 and 2004, and three more times after switching to beach volleyball.
Jacob "Jake" Spiker Gibb is an American professional beach volleyball player, who currently plays on the AVP Tour with Taylor Crabb as his partner. Gibb and Casey Patterson represented the United States at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Previously, Gibb and Sean Rosenthal played together from 2006 to 2012. The duo represented Team USA at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.
Laura Ludwig-Bowes is a German professional beach volleyball player, playing as a defender. Previously forming a pair with compatriot Kira Walkenhorst, she represents Hamburger SV and has won four European championships. She won the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She added another medal, Gold, at the 2016 World Tour Finals in Toronto. In 2017, she and Walkenhorst won the World Championship in Vienna.
Mārtiņš Pļaviņš is a Latvian beach volleyball player.
Sean Michael Rosenthal is an American beach volleyball player, playing as a defender. He is best known for his high leaping ability, which has earned him the nickname of "Superman". Rosenthal has an entourage called "Rosie's Raiders", which is composed of close friends of his who enjoy going to his various tournaments to support him. He and his former partner, Jake Gibb, represented the United States at the 2008 Olympic Games and 2012 Olympic Games in beach volleyball.
Alexander Horst is a beach volleyball player from Austria. He currently plays on the FIVB World Beach Volleyball Tour with new partner Clemens Doppler. Horst found most success with partner Florian Gosch on the FIVB World Beach Volleyball Tour, however a knee injury forced Florian Gosch into early retirement in autumn 2010.
Jānis Šmēdiņš is a Latvian beach volleyball player. From 2008 to 2012, he played together with Mārtiņš Pļaviņš. They won the bronze medal at the European Championships 2010. Two years later, they won the bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. After 2012, he played with Aleksandrs Samoilovs, and the duo were among world leaders before 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
Mariusz Prudel is a male beach volleyball player from Poland. He competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics with his partner Grzegorz Fijałek. The other teams in their pool, group D, were Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Ruslans Sorokins (Latvia), Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal (USA) and the South African team of Freedom Chiya and Grant Goldschmidt. They lost to the Latvian team, but beat the South African and American teams. Next they played the Swiss pair of Sascha Heyer and Seba Chevallier in the last 16, winning two sets to nil. In the quarterfinals they lost to the Brazilian team of Emanuel Rego and Alison Cerutti.
Grzegorz Fijałek is a Polish male beach volleyball player. He competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics with his partner Mariusz Prudel. The other teams in their pool, group D, were Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Ruslans Sorokins (Latvia), Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal (USA) and the South African team of Freedom Chiya and Grant Goldschmidt. They lost to the Latvian team, but beat the South African and American teams. Next they played the Swiss pair of Sascha Heyer and Seba Chevallier in the last 16, winning two sets to nil. In the quarterfinals they lost to the Brazilian team of Emanuel Rego and Alison Cerutti.
Petia Yanchulova is a Bulgarian beach volleyball player. She represented her nation Bulgaria in two editions of the Olympic Games, along with her partner and elder sister Tzvetelina. Despite being born in Bulgaria, Yanchulova trained most of her sporting career in San Diego, California, United States, playing for the University of San Diego's volleyball team.
Taylor Mackenzie Wilson is a Canadian professional volleyball player. She has won seven Canadian national titles, including the women's volleyball championship in 2014.
Latvia competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's seventh consecutive appearance at the Games in the post-Soviet era and eleventh overall in Summer Olympic history.
Bruno Oscar Schmidt is a Brazilian beach volleyball player. He plays as a right-side defender. Bruno is the nephew of the former Brazilian basketball player Oscar Schmidt and of the TV news announcer Tadeu Schmidt. In 2010, he was named the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Most Improved Player. He was also named the Best Defensive Player in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016. Schmidt won the gold medal at the 2015 World Championships with his teammate Alison Cerutti in the Netherlands. He won the gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics with Alison Cerutti.
Chaim Schalk is a Canadian beach volleyball player. Schalk placed ninth at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Anders Berntsen Mol is a Norwegian beach volleyball player. He won the gold medal at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Anastasija Samoilova is a Latvian beach volleyball player. She represents Latvia at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo 2020. Kravčenoka and partner Tina Graudiņa are the first Latvian women’s pair to qualify for the Olympics.
Edgars Točs is a Latvian beach volleyball player. He made his debut appearance at the Olympics representing Latvia at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
