Virgilijus Alekna

Virgilijus Alekna (Lithuanian pronunciation: [vʲɪrʲˈɡʲɪlʲɪjʊs ɐlʲɛkˈnɐ]; 13 February 1972) is a Lithuanian former discus thrower and politician. He won medals at the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics, including two golds.

Virgilijus Alekna
Virgilijus Alekna at 2014 Lithuanian Championships in Athletics
Personal information
NationalityLithuanian
Born (1972-02-13) 13 February 1972
Terpeikiai, Lithuania
Height2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)
Weight130 kg (287 lb)
Sport
SportAthletics
EventDiscus throw
Achievements and titles
Personal best73.88 m (2000)
Medal record
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 2 0 1
World Championships 2 2 0
European Championships 1 1 1
Continental Cup 4 1 0
IAAF Grand Prix Final 1 1 0
IAAF World Cup 2 0 0
European Throwing Cup 0 1 0
Goodwill Games 0 0 1
Total 12 6 3
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place2000 Sydney Discus
Gold medal – first place2004 Athens Discus
Bronze medal – third place2008 BeijingDiscus
World Championships
Gold medal – first place2003 ParisDiscus
Gold medal – first place2005 HelsinkiDiscus
Silver medal – second place1997 AthensDiscus
Silver medal – second place2001 EdmontonDiscus
European Championships
Gold medal – first place2006 GothenburgDiscus
Silver medal – second place2002 MunichDiscus
Bronze medal – third place1998 BudapestDiscus
IAAF World Athletics Final
Gold medal – first place2003 Monte CarloDiscus
Gold medal – first place2005 Monte CarloDiscus
Gold medal – first place2006 StuttgartDiscus
Gold medal – first place2009 ThessalonikiDiscus
Silver medal – second place2007 StuttgartDiscus
IAAF Grand Prix Final
Gold medal – first place 2001 Melbourne Discus
Silver medal – second place 1999 Munich Discus
IAAF World Cup
Gold medal – first place1998 JohannesburgDiscus
Gold medal – first place2006 AthensDiscus
European Throwing Cup
Silver medal – second place2013 Castellón Discus
Goodwill Games
Bronze medal – third place2001 BrisbaneDiscus
Updated on 12 August 2012.

After retiring from athletics, Alekna was elected to the national parliament, the Seimas, in 2016.

He has three children - Martynas Alekna, the discus world record holder Mykolas Alekna, and Gabrielė Aleknaite.[1]

Athletics career

Alekna has won two gold medals in the Summer Olympics in the discus throw, the first was in 2000 and the second in 2004. He also won the bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. In 2007, he was appointed as UNESCO Champion for Sport. His personal record is 73.88 m (242 ft 4+1⁄2 in), surpassed only by the former world record (74.08 metres), and his son Mykolas' to be ratified new world record, (74.35 metres).

Performance in major competitions
YearCompetitionPlaceDistance (meters)
1994European Championship1756.38
1995World Championship1959.20
1996Summer Olympics565.30
1997World Championship266.70
1998European Championship366.46
1999World Championship467.53
2000Lithuanian Athletics Championships173.88 (NR)
2000Summer Olympics169.30
2001World Championship269.40
2002European Championship266.62
2003World Championship169.69
2003World Athletics Final168.30
2004Summer Olympics1[2]69.89
2004World Athletics Final463.64
2005World Championship170.17
2005World Athletics Final167.64
2006European Championship168.67
2006World Athletics Final168.63
2007World Championship465.24
2007World Athletics Final265.94
2008Summer Olympics367.79
2008World Athletics Final861.03
2009World Championship466.36
2009World Athletics Final167.63
2010European Championship564.64
2011World Championship664.09
2012Summer Olympics467.38
2013World Championship1661.91
2014European Championship2159.35
Alekna at his eighth World Championships in 2009, Berlin.

Alekna was awarded the title of the Athlete of the Year for 2000 by Track and Field News. He was also awarded the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas by the government of Lithuania. He became the Lithuanian Sportsman of the Year 4 times (2000, 2004, 2005, and 2006). Since 1995 Alekna has served as a bodyguard of the Lithuanian Prime Minister.

He is married to former long jumper Kristina Sablovskytė-Aleknienė and has two sons named Martynas and Mykolas, also discus throwers.

At a height of 2.02 m (6 ft 7+1⁄2 in), Alekna has an unusually long armspan, measured 2.24 m (7 ft 4 in), which is helpful in discus throwing. He can make fingerprints on windows of two opposite sides of a bus simultaneously.[3]

During the 2007 World Championship Virgilijus Alekna competed with an injury. Having sustained the injury on 20 August, he competed in the World Championship's qualification on 28 August[4] and, as a result, suffered a defeat, which broke his 37 victories in a row over the past two years.[4] In 2017 Alekna was awarded the European Athletics Lifetime Achievement award.[5][6]

Political career

In May 2016, Alekna announced he would participate in the elections to the Seimas the following October on the electoral list of the opposition Liberal Movement, without joining the party.[7] He lost the run-off in Naujamiestis single-member constituency,[8] but was elected to the Twelfth Seimas through the electoral list of the party, where he was rated second.

References
  1. Milašius, Marius (15 February 2022). "50 V.Aleknos metų: „Svajonė išsipildys su kaupu, jei bus trys olimpiečiai iš Aleknų" (III)" [V. Alekna turns 50: "My dream will come true when there are three Olympians named Alekna"]. 15min.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  2. The 2004 Summer Olympics were marked by a scandal when Hungarian athlete Róbert Fazekas was stripped of his gold medal on the Men's discus event after being caught tampering with his urine sample and refusing to release it during his post-event doping exam. The gold medal was then awarded to Virgilijus Alekna. Although Fazekas set an Olympic Record, this was erased from all records, and consequently the Olympic Record was credited to Alekna (whose winning throw in Athens had beaten the old Olympic Record).
  3. IAAF
  4. (in Lithuanian) Eglė Šilinskaitė. Nenugalimąjį metiką įveikė kojos trauma (Unbeatable thrower was defeat by leg injury). Retrieved on 2007-08-29
  5. "Vetter and Stefanidi crowned European Athletes of the Year | NEWS | World Athletics".
  6. "Vetter and Stefanidi crowned European athletes of the year". 14 October 2017.
  7. "Olimpinis čempionas atskleidė, kodėl priėmė liberalų pasiūlymą".
  8. Į Seimą nepateko nė vienas liberalo Remigijaus Šimašiaus valdomo Vilniaus liberalas
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