Inese Jaunzeme (21 May 1932 – 13 February 2011) was a

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

er who won a gold medal at the 1956 Olympics.Inese Jaunzeme
. sports-reference.com Jaunzeme placed third at the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

Championships in 1956, earning herself a place on the Soviet Olympic team for the 1956 Olympics. She set an

Olympic record Olympic records are the best performances in a specific event in that event's history in either the Summer Olympic Games or the Winter Olympic Games, including: * Archery (list) * Alpine skiing (records recognized only by FIS) * Athletics (list) ...

in the first round of the event and went on to improve her mark twice more, ending up with a winning throw of 53.86 metres. This made her the first Latvian Olympic champion.Latvia’s first Olympic champion Inese Jaunzeme dies
.

European Athletics The European Athletic Association (more commonly known as European Athletics) is the governing body for athletics in Europe. It is one of the six Area Associations of the world's athletics governing body World Athletics. European Athletics has 51 ...

(16 February 2011). Retrieved on 2011-02-18. She was awarded the

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

in 1957 in recognition of her achievement and was selected as the Latvian athlete of the year in 1956 and 1957. Jaunzeme was the Latvian champion in the javelin in 1952, 1956, 1958 and 1960, and placed second at the

1957 World University Games 1957 World University Games were held between 31 August and 8 September. They were organised under the direction of Jean Petitjean by the Paris University Club in Paris at their Stadium Charlety. He engaged an American student athlete at the Par ...

. In 1960, she graduated from the Riga Medical Institute and retired from competitions. She worked in the fields of

traumatology In medicine, traumatology (from Greek ''trauma'', meaning injury or wound) is the study of wounds and injuries caused by accidents or violence to a person, and the surgical therapy and repair of the damage. Traumatology is a branch of medicine. I ...

and

plastic surgery Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes craniofa ...

, and defended a PhD in 1969. Since 1970 she was an

orthopedics Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternatively spelt orthopaedics), is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

professor at the Riga Medical Institute. From 1999 until her death in 2011 she headed the Latvian Olympians Association.

References

External links

Biography

Inese Jaunzeme's obituary at Diena.lv
1932 births 2011 deaths People from Pļaviņas Latvian female javelin throwers Olympic athletes for the Soviet Union Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Soviet female javelin throwers Dynamo Sports Club sportspeople Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Riga Stradiņš University alumni Academic staff of Riga Stradiņš University {{Latvia-athletics-bio-stub