Jānis Doniņš (born 20 April 1946) is a

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

n- American former javelin thrower. Competing for the

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, he won the silver medal at the 1971 European Athletics Championships behind Jānis Lūsis.

Career

Doniņš placed sixth in the javelin throw at the 1969 European Championships in

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with a throw . He won his event at the 1971 United States vs. Soviet Union dual meet in

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with , a meeting record and his personal best. At the European Championships later that year in

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he threw and placed second behind his teammate Jānis Lūsis. '' Track & Field News'' ranked Doniņš tenth in the world in 1969 and second in 1971. He was one of the favorites for the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

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, but suffered a career-ending knee injury in training in February 1972.

Personal life

Doniņš met Kathy Keefe, an American, on a competition trip to the United States in 1969. They married in 1972 and lived in the

until 1974, when she left for America with their daughter. Soviet authorities didn't allow Doniņš to leave with them at the time, but they relented in 1975 and he rejoined his family in California.

References

1946 births Living people Latvian male javelin throwers Soviet male javelin throwers American people of Latvian descent European Athletics Championships medalists {{Latvia-athletics-bio-stub