3 × 3 basketball player Kārlis Pauls Lasmanis and beach volleyball player Tīna Laura Graudiņa were recognized as the best athletes of Latvia at the “Three Star Award” presentation ceremony in Riga on Saturday.
The lion’s court award was won by Olympic champions in 3 × 3 basketball Lasmanis, Nauris Miezis, Edgars Krūmiņš and Agnis Čavars. The gold medals earned in Tokyo were recognized as the event of the year in the sport, the 3 × 3 basketball team won the award for the breakthrough in the sport, the Olympians were recognized as the sports team of the year in individual sports, Kārlis Pauls Lasmanis is the athlete of the year, and the team leader is Raimonds Feldmanis.
Lasmanis recorded the final result of the game with a long shot (21:18) in the final match of the Tokyo Olympic Games with the team of the Russian Olympic Committee (OKR). As part of the “Riga” team, in which Artūrs Strēlnieks and Guntars Strāķis also played in 2021, Lasmanis contributed to the victories in the World Tour stages in Abu Dhabi and Mexico City, but after the end of the World Tour season, Lasmanis became the most successful player in the World Tour season. in the four. Lasmanis finished the year in third place in the world, and Miezis in second place.
Athlete of the Year was named Tīna Graudiņa, who, together with Anastasia Kravčenok, won fourth place in the Tokyo Olympics and the European Championships, as well as in two four-star tournaments of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) World Tour. She also holds the U.S. National College Sports Association (NCAA) beach volleyball championship at the University of Southern California’s Trojans.
For the first time, the award was presented in the category Athlete of the Year in technical sports, earned by speed tracker Andrzej Lebedev, who helped the Latvian team to win the sixth place in the final of the Nations Cup. In the Paralympic Athlete category, the award went to equestrian Rihards Snikum, who won two silver medals in the Tokyo Paralympic Games. The Latvian volleyball team became the sports team of the year, playing in the final tournament of the European Championship after a 26-year break, beating the home team with Estonian coach Avo Kēll in Tallinn, denying them entry to the play-off tournament and conceding to the next Italian champions in the eighth final.
In its turn, the Latvian Volleyball Federation was recognized as the Sports Federation of the Year. Valmiera municipality was recognized as the Sports Municipality of the Year, and Gita Pērkone, a sports teacher at the Riga French Lyceum, was the Sports Teacher of the Year. The owner of the award in the nomination “Lifelong investment in sports” was already known. It was awarded to martial arts coach Visvaldis Freidenfelds.
Voting took place in two rounds – in the first round nominees were nominated by 94 sports federations recognized in Latvia, as well as the Saeima Sports Subcommittee, Ministry of Education and Science (MES), Latvian Sports Federation Councils (LSFP), Latvian Olympic Committees (LOC), Latvian Paralympic Committees ) and the Board of Directors of Latvian Sports Education Institutions, the Sports Subcommittee of the Latvian Association of Local Governments (LPS), the management of the Latvian Academy of Sports Pedagogy (LSPA), the Board of the Latvian Team Sports Association (LKSSA) and Latvian sports journalists.
In the second round, no more than three first-round voting leaders were nominated for voting in each nomination, except for the “Athlete of the Year” and “Athlete of the Year” nominations, where five candidates were nominated. In the vote, 50% of the result was determined by the vote of fans, 25% – by the vote of athletes, and another 25% – by the vote of sports journalists. The ceremony presented prizes in 13 nominations – Breakthrough of the Year in Sport, Event of the Year in Sport, Federation of Sport of the Year, Sports Team of the Year, Sports Team of the Year in Individual Sports, Athlete of the Year, Athlete of the Year, Coach of the Year, Lifelong Investment in Sports -e, Sports teacher / -ge, as well as Athlete of the Year in technical sports, which is included for the first time this year.
The event was also attended by the President of the Republic Egils Levits, who presented the prize in the nomination “Lifetime contribution to sports”, which was awarded this year to martial arts coach Visvaldis Freidenfelds. He has dedicated his entire life to the development of martial arts, is a multiple Latvian champion and master of sports in freestyle wrestling. The three-star award 2021 award ceremony was organized by the LOK with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science. In 2020, cross-country skier Patricia Eiduka and boxer Mairis Briedis were recognized as the best athletes. Prior to that, since 2005, the Latvian Sports of the Year Award has been organized by the Igo Japiņa Sports Agency.
–
