Kristaps Porziņģis, an NBA player with the New York Knicks, is by a long shot the best-known sportsman Latvia has produced in years. Basketball coach Edvīns Sprūde trained him for eight years in Porziņģis native Liepāja. Sprūde was effectively the first step in a career that has made Kristaps one of the most prominent newcomers in the NBA, Sprūde says in an interview with Rus.lsm.lv.
"I think I am very powerful and I was born with this strength... I could never sit quietly. I simply couldn't stay in the corner playing with building toys," says Jeļena Ostapenko, the 20-year-old Latvian tennis player who was launched instantly to stardom after her stunning victory at Roland Garros this June. Her goals are clear - a Career Grand Slam and the title of the world's No. 1 tennis player. "I'll do my best," she says.
