The full Latvian delegation and calendar can be found in the Olympics section of LSM.lv.
This is Part 1 of the guide. Part 2 is available here.
The Paris 2024 Olympics take place July 26 to August 11.
3x3 basketball team
Nauris Miezis, Kārlis Pauls Lasmanis, Francis Gustavs Lācis, Zigmārs Raimo
In 2021, the Latvian team was accompanied to the Olympic Games by talk about the high position of Latvians in the world rankings. Nauris Miezis and Kārlis Pauls Lasmanis were regularly in the top three of the world 3x3 rankings, while Agnis Čavars and Edgars Krūmiņš were regularly in or around the top ten.
That was three years ago. Currently, Miezis is the highest-ranked Latvian in the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) 3x3 rankings, 40th. However, the FIBA 3x3 Basketball Ranking is not an objective reflection of a player's individual abilities. The Latvian team earned an Olympic ticket quite convincingly and won bronze at last year's World Cup. Agnis Čavars helped the team then instead of Zigmārs Raimo.
Latvia will not go to the Olympics as favorites this time, but a medal in the eight-team competition is a rational goal.
Latvia will play its first game on July 30 against Lithuania.
Beach volleyball
Tīna Graudiņa and Anastasija Samoilova
Latvia will be represented in the Olympic beach volleyball tournament only in the ladies' competition. Graudina/Samoilova qualified for the Olympics without any problems, finishing 9th in the world rankings of the best women's beach volleyball duos (home team, last year's World Championship winners and the next 17 duos in the rankings, as well as the winners of five continental tournaments, qualified for the Olympics).
A draw is considered successful enough for the Latvian pair to take the next step and qualify for the knockout games, where, according to the athletes themselves, around 10 pairs have an equally good chance of winning medals. In the 2021 Olympics, the Latvian duo managed a surprisingly high 4th place, and this year the athletes realize that a top result is also quite realistic.
Graudiņa/Samoilova finished 3rd in the elite tournament in Switzerland in July, proving that an Olympic podium in Paris is also within reach.
Graudiņa/Samoilova will play their first match on July 29 against the Swiss athletes.
Weightlifting
Ritvars Suharevs
Ritvars Suharevs, 25, will compete in his second Olympic Games. In 2021, he finished 6th in the U73kg category, which was very disappointing for him.
Suharevs is ranked 7th in the world rankings and his best result of the season came at the World Cup in Thailand, when he lifted a total of 341 kilograms. In the snatch, Suharevs lifted 157 kilograms, his fifth-best result this season.
Suharevs is close to the world's weightlifting elite. If he has a good day in the pushing event, the 2023 European champion could be in contention for medals.
Ritvars Suharevs is scheduled to start on August 8.
Tennis
Alona Ostapenko
Latvia's leading tennis player will be playing her third Olympic Games. There was virtually no doubt about the 27-year-old Ostapenko's qualification for the major sporting event, as she has been a consistent world top-20 tennis player for three years, while 56 athletes automatically qualify for the Olympics, according to their ranking in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) rankings.
Ostapenko will arrive in Paris after a successful Wimbledon Grand Slam, where she reached the quarter-finals. Ostapenko is ranked 11th in the WTA rankings, the second-highest position in the Latvian delegation. Only beach volleyball players Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova are ranked higher in their sport. However, Ostapenko cannot boast of good results in the last two Olympics, losing in the first round of the singles tournament in both 2021 and 2016.
At least in the first round, Ostapenko will face a nominally weaker opponent, but tennis tends to be unpredictable. Ostapenko will have the chance to prove herself as a top-class tennis player on the Olympic stage, something she has not yet been able to do.
Ostapenko's first-round opponent will be the 84th-ranked WTA player from Colombia, Camila Osario. The exact date of this match is not yet known.
Athletics
Līna Mūze-Sirmā - Javelin
Mūze-Sirmā earned her Olympic ticket last year, when she managed to surpass the 64-meter mark at the Latvian Championships with 64.78 meters. The 32-year-old is one of only eight javelin throwers to have earned an Olympic ticket by completing the norm. True, she was affected by an injury in the 2024 season. This season Mūze-Sirmā's best is quite far from 64 meters - on July 20 at the Diamond League, returning to competition after a long break, she shot the javelin 60.33 meters, only the 39th best in the world this season.
The first challenge for Mūze-Sirmā is to overcome the qualification hurdle, which she estimates will require a javelin throw of at least 62 meters.
Anete Sietiņa - javelin
Sietiņa, unlike Mūze-Sirmā, did not reach the Olympic standard. However, she is ranked 5th in the world rankings, which is the highest position among the javelin throwers who failed to meet the 64-meter standard.
Sietiņa, 28, has a season's best of 63.28 meters.
The javelin throwers will compete in qualification on August 7.
Patriks Gailums and Gatis Čakšs - Javelin
Both Gailums and Čakšs earned their way to the Olympic Games by ranking quite high in the World Athletics Federation rankings. However, both javelin throwers were close to the threshold that separated the Olympians from the others.
Čakšs had the third most modest points total among the 32 javelin throwers who earned a pathway in the rankings, finishing just behind Gailums.
Čaksš's best throw this season is 82.11 meters, while Gailums' best is 28 centimeters further.
The rankings show that the primary challenge for the Latvian javelin throwers will be to reach the final.
The javelin throwers will compete in qualification on August 6.
Agate Caune - 5000 meters
The young runner has struggled with injuries after a successful 2023 but earned her place at the Olympics with a relatively high position in the world rankings, where she was 39th at the end of the qualification period.
Caune's season's best time in the 5000 meters is 15 minutes 18.54 seconds.
The Paris Olympics will be a great experience for Caune, so she can reasonably expect higher results from the 2028 Olympics onwards.
Caune will compete in the first round of the 5000 metres on 2 August.
Gunta Vaičule - 400 meters
Vaičule jumped on the Olympic train at the very last stop at the Latvian Athletics Championships at the end of June with a career-best in the 400 meters of 50.83 seconds. That was 0.42 seconds better than the 29-year-old's previous best.
Vaičule's result at the Janis Daliņš Stadium is the 48th best in the world this season.
In the Olympic competition, Vaicule will be fighting for a place in the semi-finals and a new personal best.
Valters Kreišs - Pole Vault
The 20-year-old pole vaulter posted a season and career best of 5.72 meters at the Latvian Championships. For Kreišs, the Olympics is an opportunity he earned and didn't even plan for before, as a ticket to Paris was not strictly on his target list.
Kreišs will be in the same company in Paris as the absolute season leader and world record holder Armands Duplantis, who broke the 6.24 meter mark in April.
Kreišs will compete in the preliminaries on August 3.
Rūta Kate Lasmane - triple jump
Until the end of June, 23-year-old Rūta Kate Lasmane had to postpone her dream of competing in the Olympic Games. She was two positions behind the qualification threshold in the rankings, but at the beginning of July, it became known that due to health problems, three athletes had to withdraw from the Olympic Games. Lasmane was therefore also given a ticket to the big sporting forum.
Lasmane cleared 14.47 meters at the US Indoor Student Championships in the spring, proving her potential for a high performance with a new personal best. With 32 triple jumpers competing at the Olympics, Lasmane will face fierce competition to qualify for the final 12.
Qualification for the triple jumpers is scheduled for August 2.
