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.
Igors Vihrovs is a Latvian gymnast, who won the gold medal in floor exercise at the 2000 Summer Olympics, and bronze in floor exercise in 2000 European Championships and 2001 World Championships. He was the first Olympic gold medalist for independent Latvia.
Jānis Lūsis was a Latvian track and field athlete who competed in javelin throw.
Vadims Vasiļevskis is a retired Latvian track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He won silver at the 2004 Summer Olympics. His personal best throw of 90.73 m, set in 2007, is the Latvian record. In 2008, Vasiļevskis was awarded the Latvian Order of the Three Stars for his achievements in athletics.
The Latvia men's national basketball team represents Latvia in international basketball. They are organized and run by the Latvian Basketball Association. Latvia has reached the European Basketball Championship 15 times, with their ultimate success occurring during the inter-war period, when they became the first team to win the tournament in 1935. Four years later, they had another impressive run to come away with the silver in 1939. Although after 1939, Latvia were forced to suspend their national team operations, due to the Occupation of the Baltic states during World War II. Latvia regained independence in 1991, with their national team taking part in international competition once again a year later.
Ivans Klementjevs is a Soviet-born Latvian politician and former sprint canoeist who competed from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. He won three Olympic medals in C-1 1000 m at the 1988, 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics. The highlight was the gold medal in 1988, which he won as a competitor for the USSR. He trained at Trudovye Rezervy and later at the Armed Forces sports society in Riga when Latvia was part of the Soviet Union.
Jeļena Prokopčuka is a retired Latvian long-distance runner, best known for winning the New York City Marathon in 2005 and 2006.
Ainārs Kovals is a Latvian track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. His personal best throw is 86.64 m. He achieved this at the 2008 Summer Olympics, where he finished second.
Inese Jaunzeme was a Latvian javelin thrower who won a gold medal at the 1956 Olympics.
Jeļena Blaževiča is a retired Latvian triple jumper. Her personal best jump was 14.55 metres, achieved in June 1996 in Riga.
Jānis Krūmiņš was a Soviet-Latvian professional basketball player. Helped by his height, he was the first giant center that dominated under European baskets, for years. As a player of the senior Soviet Union national basketball team, Krūmiņš won 3 gold medals at the 1959, 1961, and 1963 EuroBaskets, as well as 3 silver medals at the 1956, 1960, and 1964 Summer Olympic Games.
Inārs Kivlenieks is a Latvian luger who has competed since 2005. His best Luge World Cup season finish was 20th in men's doubles in 2006–07.
Ilze Gribule is a former female javelin thrower from Latvia. Her personal best throw is 58.74 metres, achieved in May 2005 in Riga.
Māris Urtāns is a Latvian shot putter. His personal best throw is 21.63 metres, achieved on 19 June 2010 in Belgrade.
Pauls Sokolovs was a Latvian footballer who competed for Latvia national football team at the 1924 Summer Olympics.
The Men's Hammer Throw event at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on August 15 and August 17. With reigning champion Ivan Tsikhan banned from competition for doping offences, the 2008 Olympic gold and silver medallists Primož Kozmus and Krisztián Pars were the favourites in the event. Pars entered the competition with a world-leading throw of 81.43 m and an 18 competition win-streak. Belarusian Yuriy Shayunov and Russian Aleksey Zagornyi, the only other athletes to have thrown over eighty metres twice that season prior to the championships, were identified as possible podium finishers. Nicola Vizzoni, Igor Sokolov, Olli-Pekka Karjalainen, Szymon Ziółkowski, Koji Murofushi, and Libor Charfreitag were all predicted to have an outside chance of a medal.
Igors Anatolyevich Bondarevs is a Latvian professional former ice hockey player.
Latvia competed at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics in Moscow, Russia, from 10–18 August 2013.
Dace Ruskule is a retired Latvian discus thrower. She represented her nation Latvia at the 2004 Summer Olympics, and later became a titleholder in women's discus throw at the 2006 NCAA Track and Field Championships in Sacramento, California, representing her collegiate team Nebraska Cornhuskers in the United States.
Igors Kostins is a retired amateur Latvian Greco-Roman wrestler, who competed in the men's heavyweight category. Kostins represented his nation Latvia at the 2004 Summer Olympics, and has been training for more than 20 years at the Daugmale Wrestling Club in his native hometown Rīga, under his personal coach Andrei Trubetzkoi.
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