Sanita Pušpure (; born 21 December 1981) is a Latvian-born Irish rower. She was a back-to-back world champion in the women's single scull, winning her title at the

2018 World Rowing Championships The 2018 World Rowing Championships were the World Rowing Championships held at the regatta course in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The event was held from 9 to 16 September. Events held were men and women's open class, lightweight class, and para-rowing. ...

in Plovdiv and defending it at the

2019 World Rowing Championships The 2019 World Rowing Championships were held in Ottensheim, Austria from 25 August to 1 September 2019. Apart from Ottensheim, the right to host the championships was contested by Hamburg in Germany, Račice (Litoměřice District), Račice in ...

in Ottensheim. She initially competed for Latvia at a junior level, but she moved to Ireland in 2006 and began competing for her adopted country in 2010 before gaining full Irish nationality in 2011. She was selected as the sole rowing competitor for Ireland at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. In May 2016, she qualified for the Women's single sculls at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. Pušpure is now head coach of UCC Rowing Club in

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Career

She began her rowing career in her native Latvia. In 2003, she placed third in the single scull competition at the World under-23 Championships. In the following year took the gold medal in the double scull at the World Student Games. She moved to Ireland in 2006, when her husband Kaspar got a job at

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, and they initially lived in

. In 2009, she won the single sculls event at the Irish Championships, repeating that success at the following year's competition and taking the double sculls title too. Pušpure began competing for Ireland in World Cup events during 2010 but was only allowed to compete at the World Championships after she gained Irish nationality in 2011. She was in the winning teams in the double and quad sculls at the Henley Women's Regatta in 2011. She initially aimed to qualify for the 2012 Olympics in the double scull, partnered with Lisa Dilleen. The duo finished in twelfth place at the 2011 World Championships, where the top eight teams qualified for the Olympics. She competed in the single scull event for the first time at a World Cup event in

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in May 2012, finishing in fifth place. At the Olympic qualification event in

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, Switzerland, she placed second in her heat in order to make it through to the semi-final. After finishing third in the semi, she placed fourth in the final, giving Ireland a place in the women's single sculls competition at the

. She was selected for the Irish team at the Games as the country's only rowing competitor, and their first female single sculler since the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

. She reached the quarter-finals of the event. In September 2018 she won the single sculls at the

world championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Plovdiv Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...

, Bulgaria, her first world title. She defended her title a year later in Linz-Ottensheim, Austria, and also qualified at the event for the 2020 Olympics. Puspure was selected as a 2021 Tokyo Olympian but had to settle for the B final in the women's single scull.

Personal life

She lives with her family in Ballincollig,

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

. Both of her children were born in Ireland. Pušpure races for Old Collegians Boat Club.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Puspure, Sanita Living people Rowers from Riga Latvian female rowers Irish female rowers 1981 births Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic rowers for Ireland Latvian emigrants to Ireland World Rowing Championships medalists for Ireland People from Ballincollig 21st-century Irish sportswomen