Valters Kreišs (born 19 September 2003) is a Latvian

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a #bar, bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ...

er and Latvian record holder in pole vault.

Career

He was born and raised 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 ...

. He attended Rīgas sporta skola "Arkādija". He is coached by

Mareks Ārents Mareks Ārents (born 6 August 1986) is a Latvian former track and field athlete who specialised in the pole vault. He won the Latvian outdoor national championship 12 times and the national indoor title nine times. He represented Latvia at multip ...

. He won the Latvian national championship pole vault title for the first time in July 2023 in

Valmiera Valmiera () is the second largest city of the historical Vidzeme region, Latvia, with a total area of . As of 2002, Valmiera had a population of 27,323, and in 2020, it was at 24,879. It is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city, and ...

. He finished fourth in the pole vault at the

2023 European Athletics U23 Championships The 2023 European Athletics U23 Championships were the 14th edition of the biennial athletics competition between European athletes under the age of twenty three. The event was organized by European Athletics Association and held from 13–16 Ju ...

Espoo Espoo (, ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the west of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. Espoo is part of the Helsi ...

, Finland, with a new personal best height of 5.60 metres. He made his senior championships debut at the

2024 European Athletics Championships The 26th European Athletics Championships were held from 7 to 12 June 2024 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy. It was the third time Italy staged this sporting event after the inaugural 1934 European Athletics Championships, 1934 edition in T ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, where a clearance of 5.45 meters saw him share 14th place. That month, he increased his personal best and Latvian under-23 record to 5.72 metres and retained his Latvian national title. He competed in the pole vault at the

2024 Paris Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

where he qualified for the final with a 5.70 metres clearance, before placing twelfth overall in the final. In February 2025 he set a new national record with a 5.82 metres clearance at

Roubaix Roubaix ( , ; ; ; ) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, depar ...

. He competed at the

2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held from 6 to 9 March 2025 at the Omnisport Apeldoorn arena in Apeldoorn, Netherlands. The four-day competition features thirteen men's, thirteen women's and one mixed athletics events over t ...

Apeldoorn Apeldoorn (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city in the province of Gelderland in the centre of the Netherlands. The municipality of Apeldoorn, including the villages of Beekbergen, Loenen (Apeldoorn), Loenen, Ugchelen and Hoenderloo ...

, Netherlands where he cleared 5.75 metres in the qualifying round to reach the final of the competition. In the final, he finishes in sixth place overall, the highest finish achieved by a Latvian athlete at the Championships. He competed at the

2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships The 20th World Athletics Indoor Championships were held from 21 to 23 March 2025 in Nanjing, People's Republic of China, at the newly built Nanjing's Cube gymnasium in the Nanjing Youth Olympic Sports Park. Nanjing was originally due to host the ...

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

in March 2025, where he tied for eighth place in the pole vault with a 5.50 metres clearance. It was the best placed finish by a Latvian athlete at a global games for 15 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kreiss, Valters 2003 births Athletes from Riga Latvian male pole vaulters Living people Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Latvia Olympic male pole vaulters 21st-century Latvian sportsmen