sport.wikisort.org - Athlete

Virgilijus Alekna (Lithuanian pronunciation: ​[vʲɪrʲˈɡʲɪlʲɪjʊs ɐlʲɛkˈnɐ]; 13 February 1972) is a Lithuanian former discus thrower and politician. He won medals at the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics, including two golds.

This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (January 2012)

Virgilijus Alekna

Virgilijus Alekna at 2014 Lithuanian Championships in Athletics
Personal information
Nationality	Lithuanian
Born	(1972-02-13) 13 February 1972 (age 50) Terpeikiai, Lithuania
Height	2.02 m (6 ft 7+1⁄2 in)
Weight	130 kg (287 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Discus throw
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	73.88 m (2000)
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 2 0 1 World Championships 2 2 0 European Championships 1 1 1 Continental Cup 4 1 0 Total 9 4 2 Olympic Games 2000 Sydney Discus 2004 Athens Discus 2008 Beijing Discus World Championships 2003 Paris Discus 2005 Helsinki Discus 1997 Athens Discus 2001 Edmonton Discus European Championships 2006 Gothenburg Discus 2002 Munich Discus 1998 Budapest Discus IAAF World Athletics Final 2003 Monte Carlo Discus 2005 Monte Carlo Discus 2006 Stuttgart Discus 2009 Thessaloniki Discus 2007 Stuttgart Discus
Updated on 12 August 2012.

After retiring from athletics, Alekna was elected to the national parliament, the Seimas, in 2016.^{[citation needed]}

He has 3 children - Martynas Alekna, Mykolas Alekna and Gabrielė Aleknaite.^{[citation needed]}

Athletics career

Alekna has won two gold medals in the Summer Olympics in the discus throw, the first was in 2000 and the second in 2004. He also won the bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. In 2007, he was appointed as UNESCO Champion for Sport. His personal record as well as the Lithuanian record is 73.88 meters (242 ft 4½ in), surpassed only by the world record (74.08).

Performance in major competitions
Year	Competition	Place	Distance (meters)
1994	European Championship	17	56.38
1995	World Championship	19	59.20
1996	Summer Olympics	5	65.30
1997	World Championship	2	66.70
1998	European Championship	3	66.46
1999	World Championship	4	67.53
2000	Lithuanian Athletics Championships	1	73.88 (NR)
2000	Summer Olympics	1	69.30
2001	World Championship	2	69.40
2002	European Championship	2	66.62
2003	World Championship	1	69.69
2003	World Athletics Final	1	68.30
2004	Summer Olympics	1[1]	69.89
2004	World Athletics Final	4	63.64
2005	World Championship	1	70.17
2005	World Athletics Final	1	67.64
2006	European Championship	1	68.67
2006	World Athletics Final	1	68.63
2007	World Championship	4	65.24
2007	World Athletics Final	2	65.94
2008	Summer Olympics	3	67.79
2008	World Athletics Final	8	61.03
2009	World Championship	4	66.36
2009	World Athletics Final	1	67.63
2010	European Championship	5	64.64
2011	World Championship	6	64.09
2012	Summer Olympics	4	67.38
2013	World Championship	16	61.91
2014	European Championship	21	59.35

Alekna was awarded the title of the Athlete of the Year for 2000 by Track and Field News. He was also awarded the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas by the government of Lithuania. He became the Lithuanian Sportsman of the Year 4 times (2000, 2004, 2005, and 2006). Since 1995 Alekna has served as a bodyguard of the Lithuanian Prime Minister.

He is married to former long jumper Kristina Sablovskytė-Aleknienė and has two sons named Martynas and Mykolas, also discus throwers.

At a height of 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in), Alekna has an unusually long armspan, measured 2.22m (7 ft 3.5 in), which is helpful in discus throwing. He can make fingerprints on windows of two opposite sides of a bus simultaneously.[2]

During the 2007 World Championship Virgilijus Alekna competed with an injury. Having sustained the injury on 20 August, he competed in the World Championship's qualification on 28 August[3] and, as a result, suffered a defeat, which broke his 37 victories in a row over the past two years.[3] In 2017 Alekna was awarded the European Athletics Lifetime Achievement award.[4][5]

Political career

In May 2016, Alekna announced he would participate in the elections to the Seimas the following October on the electoral list of the opposition Liberal Movement, without joining the party.[6] He lost the run-off in Naujamiestis single-member constituency, but was elected to the Twelfth Seimas through the electoral list of the party, where he was rated second.[7]

References

External links

• Virgilijus Alekna at World Athletics
• Virgilijus Alekna at Diamond League
• Virgilijus Alekna at European Athletics (archived)
• Virgilijus Alekna at Olympics.com
• Virgilijus Alekna at Olympic.org (archived)
• Virgilijus Alekna at Olympedia
• Virgilijus Alekna at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
• Virgilijus Alekna at the Lietuvos tautinis olimpinis komitetas (in Lithuanian)
• ALEKNA biography rzutyiskoki.pl

Awards
Preceded by Hicham El Guerrouj	Men's Track & Field Athlete of the Year 2000	Succeeded by Hicham El Guerrouj
Preceded by Christian Olsson	Men's European Athlete of the Year 2005	Succeeded by Francis Obikwelu
Preceded by Edita Pučinskaitė	Best Lithuanian sportsman of the Year 2000	Succeeded by Rasa Polikevičiūtė
Preceded by Šarūnas Jasikevičius	Best Lithuanian sportsman of the Year 2004, 2005, 2006	Succeeded by Ramūnas Šiškauskas
Olympic Games
Preceded by Šarūnas Jasikevičius	Flagbearer for  Lithuania London 2012	Succeeded by Gintarė Scheidt

На других языках

---

[de] Virgilijus Alekna

Virgilijus Alekna (* 13. Februar 1972 in Terpeikiai bei Kupiškis, Litauische SSR, UdSSR) ist ein ehemaliger litauischer Diskuswerfer. Er wurde je zweimal Olympiasieger und Weltmeister.

---

- [en] Virgilijus Alekna

---

[fr] Virgilijus Alekna

Virgilijus Alekna (né le 13 février 1972 à Terpeikiai) est un athlète lituanien spécialiste du lancer du disque. Il s'inscrit dans la tradition des grands discoboles des pays de l'Est, son palmarès en fait l'un des meilleurs spécialistes de la discipline. Son record personnel est de 73,88 mètres, seulement dépassé par le record du monde de Jürgen Schult (74,08 m) de 1986. Son impressionnant gabarit (2 mètres — 128 kg) lui permet de devenir (depuis 1995) garde du corps du Président de la Lituanie. Il est le porte-drapeau lituanien lors des Jeux olympiques de Londres.

---

[it] Virgilijus Alekna

Virgilijus Alekna (Terpeikiai, 13 febbraio 1972) è un politico ed ex discobolo lituano.

---

[ru] Алекна, Виргилиюс

Вирги́лиюс Алякна́ (лит. Virgilijus Alekna, 13 февраля 1972, д. Терпейкяй, Купишкский район, ЛитССР) — литовский легкоатлет, дискобол. Участник пяти Олимпиад, двукратный олимпийский чемпион, двукратный чемпион мира, чемпион Европы. Лучший легкоатлет Европы 2005[1]. Лучший спортсмен Литвы 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006. В 2007 году был удостоен звания посла ЮНЕСКО по спорту[2]. Выпускник Каунасской академии физической культуры. Лучший легкоатлет мира по версии журнала Track & Field News 2000 года.[3]

---

---