kids encyclopedia robot

Virgilijus Alekna facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
Virgilijus Alekna
Virgilijus Alekna by Augustas Didzgalvis.jpg
Virgilijus Alekna at 2014 Lithuanian Championships in Athletics
Personal information
Nationality Lithuanian
Born (1972-02-13) 13 February 1972 (age 52)
Terpeikiai, Lithuania
Height 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)
Weight 130 kg (287 lb)
Sport
Sport Athletics
Event(s) Discus throw
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) 73.88 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
Olympic Games
Gold 2000 Sydney Discus
Gold 2004 Athens Discus
Bronze 2008 Beijing Discus
World Championships
Gold 2003 Paris Discus
Gold 2005 Helsinki Discus
Silver 1997 Athens Discus
Silver 2001 Edmonton Discus
European Championships
Gold 2006 Gothenburg Discus
Silver 2002 Munich Discus
Bronze 1998 Budapest Discus
IAAF World Athletics Final
Gold 2003 Monte Carlo Discus
Gold 2005 Monte Carlo Discus
Gold 2006 Stuttgart Discus
Gold 2009 Thessaloniki Discus
Silver 2007 Stuttgart Discus
IAAF Grand Prix Final
Gold 2001 Melbourne Discus
Silver 1999 Munich Discus
IAAF World Cup
Gold 1998 Johannesburg Discus
Gold 2006 Athens Discus
European Throwing Cup
Silver 2013 Castellón Discus
Goodwill Games
Bronze 2001 Brisbane Discus
Updated on 12 August 2012.

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.

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.

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 4.53641733 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
Year Competition Place Distance (meters)
1994 European Championship 17 56.38
1995 World Championship 19 59.20
1996 Summer Olympics 5 65.30
1997 World Championship 2 66.70
1998 European Championship 3 66.46
1999 World Championship 4 67.53
2000 Lithuanian Athletics Championships 1 73.88 (NR)
2000 Summer Olympics 1 69.30
2001 World Championship 2 69.40
2002 European Championship 2 66.62
2003 World Championship 1 69.69
2003 World Athletics Final 1 68.30
2004 Summer Olympics 1 69.89
2004 World Athletics Final 4 63.64
2005 World Championship 1 70.17
2005 World Athletics Final 1 67.64
2006 European Championship 1 68.67
2006 World Athletics Final 1 68.63
2007 World Championship 4 65.24
2007 World Athletics Final 2 65.94
2008 Summer Olympics 3 67.79
2008 World Athletics Final 8 61.03
2009 World Championship 4 66.36
2009 World Athletics Final 1 67.63
2010 European Championship 5 64.64
2011 World Championship 6 64.09
2012 Summer Olympics 4 67.38
2013 World Championship 16 61.91
2014 European Championship 21 59.35
Virgilius Alekna Berlin 2009
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+12 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.

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 and, as a result, suffered a defeat, which broke his 37 victories in a row over the past two years. In 2017 Alekna was awarded the European Athletics Lifetime Achievement award.

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. He lost the run-off in Naujamiestis single-member constituency, but was elected to the Twelfth Seimas through the electoral list of the party, where he was rated second.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Virgilijus Alekna para niños

kids search engine
Virgilijus Alekna Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.