Donata Karalienė (, born 11 June 1989) is a Lithuanian rower and Olympic bronze medalist at the Rio 2016 Games. She is also known for winning gold medals at the

2013 World Rowing Championships The 2013 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 25 August to 1 September 2013 at Tangeum Lake Tangeum Lake is an artificial lake at Chungju in South Korea.

, and the

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

European Rowing Championships.

Career

Karalienė, competing under her maiden name Vištartaitė, had a successful junior career, finishing 6th at her first Junior World Championships in 2006, and following that by winning a bronze medal at the 2007 World Junior Championships and gold at the 2010 and 2011 Under 23 World Championships. Karalienė won the women's single sculls at the 2012 European Championships, having won bronze the year before. Switching to the double sculls, Karalienė teamed up with

Milda Valčiukaitė Milda Valčiukaitė (born 24 May 1994) is a Lithuanian national representative rower, an Olympian and dual world champion. She won the women's double scull title alongside Ieva Adomavičiūtė at the 2018 World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv. ...

. The pair went unbeaten in their first season, winning the 2013 World Championships and the 2013 European Championships. Following this, the team narrowly missed out on a medal at the 2014 World Championships, but won the silver medal at the

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

and 2015 European Championships. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, Karalienė and Valčiukaitė won the bronze medal in the women's double sculls, Lithuania's first women's rowing medal since 2000.

Biography

Karalienė was originally a track athlete, competing in the middle distance events. When her coach stopped coaching, she continued without support. A rowing coach visited her home town looking for talented athletes with the potential to become rowers. He convinced her to take up rowing. She was very successful, winning the Lithuanian junior championships after only one year of rowing training. Because of this success, she was invited to attend a sports boarding school in Kaunas. Studying in

Lithuanian Academy of Physical Education Lithuanian Sports University or LSU is a university in Kaunas, Lithuania, specializing in sports, physical activities, and physiology. It is headquartered in Žaliakalnis neighbourhood, in close proximity to the Kaunas Sports Hall and the S. Dar ...

.LTOK žurnalas
/ref> She lives in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Karaliene, Donata Lithuanian female rowers 1989 births Living people Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic rowers for Lithuania Lithuanian Sportsperson of the Year winners World Rowing Championships medalists for Lithuania Olympic bronze medalists for Lithuania Olympic medalists in rowing Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics FISU World University Games gold medalists for Lithuania Summer World University Games medalists in rowing European Rowing Championships medalists Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2015 Summer Universiade