Viktors Ščerbatihs (born 6 October 1974 in

Dobele Dobele (; german: Doblen) is a town in the cultural region Zemgale in Latvia, and is located near the center of Latvia on the banks of the river Bērze. It received town rights in 1917 whilst being a part of the German occupied Courland Govern ...

) is a former

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 ...

weightlifter Olympic weightlifting, or Olympic-style weightlifting (officially named Weightlifting), is a sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with each athlete trying to successfully lift ...

and politician and a three-time Olympian for his native country. He is 181 cm tall. In the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, he won the silver medal in the over 105 kg weight category, with the total result of 455 kg (205 kg in snatch and 250 kg in

clean and jerk The clean and jerk is a composite of two weightlifting movements, most often performed with a barbell: the clean and the jerk. During the ''clean'', the lifter moves the barbell from the floor to a racked position across the deltoids, without res ...

). He has also won three bronze medals in the World Championships (in 1997, 1998 and 2003), gold in 2007 and several medals in the European Championships (bronze in 1997, 1999 and 2000, gold in 2001, silver in 2004, and four consecutive gold medals in 2005–2008). He started his political career with

Latvian Farmers' Union The Latvian Farmers' Union ( lv, Latvijas Zemnieku savienība, LZS) is an agrarian political party in Latvia. Initially formed in 1917 during the period of Latvian War of Independence, it was banned in 1934. It was re-established in 1990. It is ...

in 2006 and was elected to parliament. He became world champion in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

. At the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

he won the bronze medal in the +105 kg category, with a total of 448 kg.

Notes and references

Viktors Ščerbatihs at Database Weightlifting
(Retrieved on December 19, 2009). 1974 births Living people People from Dobele Latvian Farmers' Union politicians Deputies of the 9th Saeima Latvian male weightlifters Olympic weightlifters of Latvia Latvian strength athletes Weightlifters at the 1996 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 2000 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 2004 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Latvia Olympic bronze medalists for Latvia Latvian sportspeople in doping cases Olympic medalists in weightlifting Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics European Weightlifting Championships medalists World Weightlifting Championships medalists 21st-century Latvian people {{Latvia-weightlifting-bio-stub