The Latvian Olympic team go 4 gold in Rio!

Tons of excitement in our house today with the start of the 2016 Olympics in Rio! The Opening Ceremonies are tonight at 7pm on NBC; we’ll be watching as the US team walks in following Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time with 22 medals including 18 gold medals in Olympic swimming.

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We will also be cheering for the Latvian Olympic team, walking in with over 30 athletes and led by 2x gold medalist, Māris Štrombergs. Štrombergs successfully defended his Olympic title in men's BMX cycling in the London Olympics in 2012, becoming the first Latvian athlete to win two Olympic gold medals since 1991 and the only bmx gold medalist since the sport debuted in ‘08. There were three Olympic medals in Beijing: Māris Štrombergs with his gold in men’s BMX cycling, a silver for Ainārs Kovals in the men's javelin throw, and Viktors Ščerbatihs with a bronze in weightlifting.

Štrombergs, source here

The Beijing trifecta was followed with two medals in London in 2012. Latvia won a hard-fought bronze in men’s beach volleyball, Mārtiņš Pļaviņš and Jānis Šmēdiņš showing the rest of the world what the fans at Gaŗezers volleyball weekend have known all along – Latvians are world-class volleyball players. Well, among other talents, like BMX cycling.

Pļaviņš and Šmēdiņš in London, source here

Štrombergs will be defending his BMX title in Rio, and Šmēdiņš is back for volleyball gold with teammate Aleksandrs Samoilavs. Their first game is Sunday (August 7th) against Canada, followed by a faceoff with Cuba on the 9th & Brazil on the 11th. Group standings in Pool D will determine if they advance to the elimination round.

Šmēdiņš and Samoilavs with a FIVB beach volleyball world tour Olsztyn grand slam this June, source here

Other  athletes to watch include Jeļena Prokopčuka, two-time winner of the NYC Marathon (2005 & 2006) and three time participant of the summer Olympics (1996, 2000 & 2004). Prokopčuka is the record holder for seven Latvian records, ranging from 3000 meters to the 26 mile-long marathon.

NYC marathon champ, source here

Also keep an eye out for first-time Olympian Toms Skujiņš, the young cyclist who took the cycling world by storm in the 2015 Tour of California when he won the leaders jersey and the king of the mountain jersey after a solo-breakaway in stage 3. Toms will have every cycling fan in the Upstate rooting for him, as Toms was racing for Greenville-based Hincapie during this first of two Tour of California wins. This year Toms won Stage 5, currently racing for Cannondale-Drapac.

Toms Skujiņš, source here

Here is the full Latvian line-up as per the Latvian Olympic committee’s website:

Laura Ikauniece-Admidiņa, track & field

Mareks Ārents, track & field

Ketija Birzule, sailing

Jevgēņijs Borodavko, judo

Gunta Latiševa-Čudare, track & field

Anastasija Grigorjeva, wrestling

Ariana Kira Hilborna, track & field

Rebeka Koha, weightlifting

Dagnis Iļjins, canoe sprint

Uvis Kalniņš, swimming

Ilona Marhele, track & field

Līna Mūze, track & field (reserves, injured in the European Championship)

Ruslans Nakoņečnijs, pentathlon (reserves)

Artūrs Ņikiforenko, judo

Jeļena Ostapenko, tennis

Sinta Ozoliņa, track & field

Madara Palameika, track & field

Agnese Pastare, track & field

Artūrs Plēsnieks, weightlifting

Jeļena Čelnova-Prokopčuka, track & field

Pauls Pujāts, track & field

Aļona Ribakova, swimming

Arnis Rumbenieks, track & field

Aleksejs Rumjancevs, canoe sprint

Aleksandrs Samoilovs, beach volleyball

Aleksejs Saramotins, cycling - road

Zigismunds Sirmais, track & field

Toms Skujiņš, cycling - road

Jānis Šmēdiņš, beach volleyball

Rolands Štrobinders, track & field

Māris Štrombergs, cycling - BMX

Edžus Treimanis, cycling - BMX

Dainis Upelnieks, shooting

Valērijs Žolnerovičs, track & field

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This year's youngest team member is Ketija Birzule, the 17 year old competing in sailing. Meanwhile, several Latvians will be competing under the flags of other nations: Sanita Pupure (Ireland, rowing), Lāsma Liepa (Turkey, canoe sprint), and Vita Heine (Norway, cycling). 

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On a different note, the Latvian Rio 2016 uniform collection was designed by 4F in conjunction with Latvia’s Olympics Committee. I love the colors and the skujiņa, but think the cut of the coats and long-sleeved leave something to be desired... what do you think? 

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To watch the official presentation of the "Rio 2016" Latvian Olympic team, complete with appearance by President Vējonis and his wife, click here (video in Latvian)

To view the official "Rio 2016" Latvian team uniform collection, click here

SARAUJ LATVIJA! source here

Volleyball weekend

For any Latvian (or many friends of Latvians), the words “volleyball weekend” or “4-2 weekend” mean two/three days of nonstop partying during the annual volleyball tournament at the Latvian Center Gaŗezers. The 4-2 refers to the ratio of males to females on each team, and over 20 6-person teams compete for the prestigious win of the tournament each year. With several brackets (the power bracket featuring college team-level players and then the “beer bracket” at the opposite end of the spectrum) and a youth tournament (up to 19) the first day, there is room for every skill and energy level. Growing up watching the games I thought everyone played as well as the athletes on the court Sunday night come semi-finals, and was shocked to find I could compete in high school despite only playing beer bracket on 4-2. At the top level of Latvian volleyball you might remember the London Olympics in 2012, when the men’s beach volleyball team of Pļaviņš and Šmēdiņš came from no recognition in the press to a victory over the top American team and a run to the semi-finals. (These two Latvians are currently winning tournaments and competitions across the world.) A Latvian was also a starter on the 1984 gold-medal winning American Olympic team; this weekend his sons played in the “power” bracket.

Mikus has developed a lifelong aversion to mascots after meeting the Dzelzs Vilks

 

Those not playing volleyball might participate in the Cook Associates- organized golf tournament with proceeds going to Gaŗezers, or in the East coast vs. Midwest soccer tournament. If not athletically inclined, one might spend the weekend watching the games, catching up with friends, soaking up the sun on the beach, going out in the boat or driving over to Three Rivers for a meal or supply run. We spent a large portion of our time on the beach, with friends and family stopping by for a chat or to join in the fun. For a few hours we crossed to the other side of the lake to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of my GVV (the Gaŗezers summer high school) graduation.

The good lookin' GVV class of '98

 

Years ago volleyball weekend was a perfect opportunity to get a picture of almost all the grandkids (on my side of the family), as the majority of 12 grandchildren were either working at the Latvian Center, or attending camp and summer high school there. These days it is slim pickings, and although we’ve acquired two “kids” through marriage and two great-grandchildren, almost half of our bunch was missing. Nevertheless, I present to you the mazbērnu bilde 2013!

 

Volleyball weekend also brought the closing picnic for bizbiz bērnu camp, and this proud mother watched Lauris’s first ever performance in what will no doubt be a long history of skits, graduations, campfires, recitals and concerts.

 

The most interesting event of the weekend for me might have been the unearthing of the SP time capsule. In true saimnieku puišu fashion nobody could remember exactly where the container had been buried, and the “nine paces from the tree marked with the old Dodge key” evolved into “nineteen drunken Daukšs paces” as additional beer cans were emptied. After an hour of fruitless digging the Kubota was brought in, but as the pit increased in size it soon became clear that a new strategy should be sought. Another two hours later the faithful struck paydirt, and a relieved crew of SPs celebrated the contents which I cannot reveal here; not only what happens at the vecais dump stays in the vecais dump, but I would hate to violate the SP code. Of course I might possibly have been the only SP who had to hurry back from the reunion to put the kids to bed…

 

And so the weekend ended, and Dzintari quickly emptied as people escaped the vortex to return to their “real” lives. We stayed on a few days to spend a few more hours with relatives, as well as recuperate from excessive… vortex-ing, and already the hours spent cheering on our favorites during finālspēles seem a distant memory. Time to start working on setting, bumping and spiking with Lauris and Mikus!

London 2012

The London Olympics had me utterly captivated, and each evening found us watching NBC until much too late. Since we’re in temporary arrangements as we search for a house, it was very difficult to work out the live streaming via internet, and so some matches/races I followed by watching facebook status updates. But it was nice to catch a few highlights on primetime, such as the Latvians beating the US in men’s beach volleyball on their way to a bronze medal. I believe Pļaviņš and Šmēdiņš became national heroes overnight in Latvia, even if the audible confusion of Americans was somewhat disheartening. Are there really that many people who think Latvia is a made-up country, or don’t know where Latvia is? Some twitter updates had me in stitches, all basically wondering the same thing, how this tiny country with only 2 million inhabitants beat the superpowers.


Source: here

During previous Olympics I remember being very disappointed with the coverage. Latvia is alphabetically located in a group of tiny nations: Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libyan AJ and Liechtenstein. During the opening ceremonies this seems to be the perfect time to cut to commercial break, and so we rarely saw the Latvian athletes walking into the Olympic stadium. This year the opening ceremonies were taped, and they did quick recaps upon returning from commercials meaning Latvia got its five seconds – a proud moment for all of us Latvian-Americans in the US.

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Even prouder moments were the medals. Pļaviņš and Šmēdiņš went on to lose to Brazil, but in the end went three rounds with Netherland to earn the bronze medal. And in cycling Māris Štrombergs from Valmiera is the ONLY gold medalist in BMX… (the sport debuted in the Beijing 2008 Olympics, but he’s got two gold medals!) Two other Latvians made the team, Rihards Viede and Edžus Treimanis, but they got caught up in a crash in the semifinals and will have to wait another four years for their next shot. Kind of interesting that Latvians are excelling in these extreme sports, don’t you think?

Source: here

I hope that one day I have the opportunity to go to the Games. As emotional as watching the Latvian National Anthem played and the flag raised during the gold medal ceremony on YouTube was, I believe my heart would just burst to be there in person. And I don’t discriminate, I’m just as proud of each and every athlete representing the USA, and my eyes tear up watching almost any athlete up on the podium receive the greatest athletic honor in the world. For a few weeks the economic crisis, the wars being fought in the Middle East, all the usual gut-wrenching drama that unfolds in the daily news was replaced by hope, pride and the belief that dreams do come true. Only two years until the 2014 Sochi Games!

My two gold medalists on the podium