Virgilijus Alekna (; 13 February 1972) is a Lithuanian former
discus throw
The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disk (mathematics), disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an classical antiqui ...
er and politician. He won medals at the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics, including two golds.
After retiring from athletics, Alekna was elected to the national parliament, the
Seimas
The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas), or simply the Seimas (), is the unicameral parliament of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of government in Lithuania, enacting laws and amendmen ...
, in 2016.
He has 3 children - Martynas Alekna,
Mykolas Alekna and Gabrielė Aleknaite.
Athletics career
Alekna has won two gold medals in the
Summer Olympics
The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...
in the
discus throw
The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disk (mathematics), disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an classical antiqui ...
, the first was in
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
and the second in
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
. He also won the bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. In 2007, he was appointed as
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
Champion for Sport. His personal record as well as the
Lithuanian record is 73.88
meters
The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its prefi ...
(242 ft 4½ in), surpassed only by the world record (74.08).
Alekna was awarded the title of the Athlete of the Year for 2000 by
Track and Field News
''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on runni ...
. He was also awarded the
Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas
The Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas is the Lithuanian Presidential Award which was re-instituted to honour the citizens of Lithuania for outstanding performance in civil and public offices. Foreign nationals may also be awarded this O ...
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.
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
[ Eglė Šilinskaitė]
Nenugalimąjį metiką įveikė kojos trauma (Unbeatable thrower was defeat by leg injury)
Retrieved on 2007-08-29 and, as a result, suffered a defeat, which broke his 37 victories in a row over the past two years.
[ In 2017 Alekna was awarded the European Athletics Lifetime Achievement award.
]
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. 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.Į Seimą nepateko nė vienas liberalo Remigijaus Šimašiaus valdomo Vilniaus liberalas
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References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Alekna, Virgilijus
1972 births
Living people
Lithuanian male discus throwers
Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics
European Athletics Championships medalists
Lithuanian Sportsperson of the Year winners
Lithuanian masters athletes
Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Olympic athletes of Lithuania
Olympic bronze medalists for Lithuania
Olympic gold medalists for Lithuania
Recipients of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas
World Athletics Championships athletes for Lithuania
World Athletics Championships medalists
World record holders in masters athletics
Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field)
Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field)
Members of the Seimas
21st-century Lithuanian politicians
Goodwill Games medalists in athletics
European Athlete of the Year winners
Recipients of the European Athletics Lifetime Achievement Award
Track & Field News Athlete of the Year winners
Diamond League winners
World Athletics Championships winners
IAAF World Athletics Final winners
Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games
Lithuanian Sports University alumni