Līga Velvere (born 10 February 1990) is a Latvian athlete competing in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of a ...

and

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Summer Olympics, Olympic Sport of athletics, athletics programme since 1900 Summer Olympics, 1900 for men and since 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 for women. On a ...

. She competed at the

2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 16th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held between March 17 and 20, 2016 in Portland, Oregon, United States. The event did not feature Russia. Following a WADA investigation into widespread and institutional doping practices ...

without qualifying for the final.

Career

Līga Velvere is known for her success in the 800m race. She represented Latvia at the 2014 European Championship and has since made a name for herself on the international stage. In February 2016, L. Velvere broke the long-standing Latvian record in the 800m indoor race, previously held by Marika Arent since 1985, with a time of 2:03.08. This was said to be a significant achievement. L. Velvere continued to improve her personal best over the years, setting new records at various competitions. At the 2016 European Championships in Amsterdam, she reached the semi-finals of the 400m hurdles race and placed 17th overall. In February 2017, L. Velvere broke her own Latvian record in the 800m indoor race with a time of 2:02.18. She went on to beat this record again in February 2018, winning the IAAF World Tour indoor race series in Glasgow, Scotland, with a time of 2:02.01. L. Velvere's performances led her to the 2018 World Indoor Championships, where she placed 10th in the 800m race with a time of 2:02.98. In July 2018, she set a new personal record of 2:01.21 at a competition in Kortrijk, Belgium, which was the third fastest run in the history of Latvian athletics. L. Velvere continued to improve her personal best in the 800m race, setting a new record of 2:00.85 in Karlstad, Sweden, in July 2018, and further improving it to 2:00.75 in

Rovereto, Italy Rovereto (; "wood of sessile oaks"; locally: ''Roveredo'') is a city and ''comune'' in Trentino in northern Italy, located in the Vallagarina valley of the Adige River. History Rovereto was an ancient fortress town standing at the frontier ...

, in August of the same year. On February 12, 2019, L. Velvere set a new Latvian record in the 800m indoor race with a time of 2:01.10 after winning a competition in France. She went on to compete at the 2019 World Championship in Doha, where she reached the semi-finals and placed 23rd overall. However, L. Velvere's hopes of competing at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo were dashed due to an injury, and she was unable to finish the distance in her 800m discipline preliminaries.

Competition record

¹Disqualified in the semifinals

Personal bests

Outdoor *

– 2:02.79 (Portland 2015) *

– 56.77 (Ventspils 2015) Indoor *

– 2:02.01 (Glasgow 2018)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Velvere, Liga 1990 births Living people Latvian female middle-distance runners Latvian female hurdlers Place of birth missing (living people) Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Latvia European Games competitors for Latvia Athletes (track and field) at the 2019 European Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2023 European Games