Artūrs Jakovļevs (born May 30, 1967) is a Latvian former swimmer, who specialized in sprint butterfly events. He is a three-time Olympian (1992, 1996, and 2000), a former Latvian record holder in the 100 m butterfly, and a member of the national swimming team under head coaches Alberts Pisarevs and Vladimirs Maslovskis. Jakovļevs became the first ever Latvian swimmer to compete at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

since the post-Soviet era. In the

100 m butterfly 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, he placed thirty-third on the morning prelims in a national record of 55.95. On his second Olympic appearance in

Atlanta 1996 The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, Jakovļevs failed to reach the top 16 final in the

, finishing in forty-ninth place with a time of 56.62. Eight years after competing in his first Olympics, Jakovļevs qualified for his third team in the men's 100 m butterfly, as a 33-year-old, at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. He achieved a FINA B-standard entry time of 56.58 from the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

Helsinki, Finland Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city' ...

. Swimming in heat one, he held off Sri Lanka's

Conrad Francis Conrad Anthony Francis (born 8 August 1981) is a Sri Lankan former swimmer, who specialized in butterfly events. He is a two-time Olympian (2000 and 2004), a three-time swimmer at the Commonwealth Games (2002, 2006, 2010), and a double gold meda ...

by almost half a body length to race for the fourth seed in his personal best of 56.63. Jakovļevs failed to advance into the semifinals, as he placed fifty-sixth overall in the prelims.

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jakovlevs, Arturs 1967 births Living people Latvian male butterfly swimmers Olympic swimmers for Latvia Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Riga