Arnolds Krūkliņš (19 February 1914 – 31 January 1994) was a Latvian

racewalker Race walking, or racewalking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Race judges carefully asses ...

. He won the title of champion several times in the Latvian and USSR racewalking competitions and competed in the men's 50 kilometres walk at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

Life and career

Krūkliņš was born in Suntaži Parish. He won the Latvian championship in the 50 km walk in 1935, when he was 21. In 1936, he was one of three Latvians competing in the 50 km walk at the Summer Olympics in Berlin; he was disqualified. He subsequently won the Latvian championship in the 10 km walk in 1941 (under wartime occupation) and 1948 (

Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic The Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic (, LSPR) was a short-lived socialist republic formed during the Latvian War of Independence. It was proclaimed on 17 December 1918 with the political, economic, and military backing of Vladimir Lenin and ...

), in the 30 km walk in 1945 and 1948 (Latvian SSR), and in the 5 km walk in 1949 (Latvian SSR), and four

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

national championships: 10 km in 1945, 20 km in 1945 and 1946, and 50 km in 1948. He set three Latvian speedwalking records: over 3000 m in 1943 and over 5000 m in 1942 and 1945. He died in 1994 in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, where he is buried in the Forest Cemetery.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kruklins, Arnolds 1914 births 1994 deaths Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics Latvian male race walkers Olympic athletes for Latvia