Virgilijus Alekna

{{Infobox sportsperson

| name = Virgilijus Alekna

| image = Virgilijus Alekna by Augustas Didzgalvis.jpg

| imagesize = 250px

| headercolor = lightsteelblue

| caption = Virgilijus Alekna at 2014 Lithuanian Championships in Athletics

| nationality = Lithuanian

| club =

| collegeteam =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1972|02|13|df=y}}

| birth_place = Terpeikiai, Lithuania

| residence =

| death_date =

| death_place =

| sport = Athletics

| event = Discus throw

| pb = 73.88 m (2000)

| height = {{height|m=2.01}}

| weight = {{convert|130|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}}

| medaltemplates = {{MedalCount

|total=yes

|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

}}

File:Olympic rings.svg

| module = {{ infobox officeholder

| name = {{small|Political career}}

| office = Member of the Seimas

| termstart = 14 November 2016

| constituency = Multi-member

}}

| updated = 12 August 2012

}}

Virgilijus Alekna ({{IPA|lt|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.{{fact|date=July 2022}}

He has three children – Martynas Alekna, the discus world record holder Mykolas Alekna, and Gabrielė Aleknaite.{{cite news |url=https://www.15min.lt/sportas/naujiena/lengvoji-atletika/50-v-aleknos-metu-svajone-issipildys-su-kaupu-jei-bus-trys-olimpieciai-is-aleknu-iii-133-1641198 |title=50 V.Aleknos metų: "Svajonė išsipildys su kaupu, jei bus trys olimpiečiai iš Aleknų" (III) |date=2022-02-15 |access-date=2024-04-20 |last=Milašius |first=Marius |website=15min.lt |language=lt |trans-title=V. Alekna turns 50: "My dream will come true when there are three Olympians named Alekna"}}

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 for the same event at the Beijing 2008 Olympics. In 2007, he was appointed as UNESCO Champion for Sport.

Alekna's personal record is {{T&Fcalc|73.88}}, surpassed only by the former world record of 74.08 meters, set by Jürgen Schult in 1986, and his son Mykolas's current world record of 74.35 meters, achieved in 2024. {{cite web|url=https://www.alltime-athletics.com/mdiscok.htm|title=All-time men's best discus throw}} His 20-year Olympic record of 69.89 meters, set in Athens 2004, was broken twice at the Paris 2024 Olympics — first by his son Mykolas with a throw of 69.97 meters, and then by Rojé Stona with a throw of 70.0 meters.{{cite web|url=https://olympics.com/en/news/paris-2024-athletics-mens-discus-throw-results-roje-stona-wins-gold-medal|title=Paris 2024 Athletics Men's Discus Throw: All Results as Roje Stona Wins the Gold Medal|date=2024-08-07| first1=Nick | last1=McCarvel}}

class="wikitable" !colspan=4\|Performance in major competitions
align=center ! Year !! Competition !! Place !! Distance (meters)
align=center \| 1994	European Championship	17	56.38
align=center \| 1995	World Championship	19	59.20
align=center \| 1996	Summer Olympics	5	65.30
align=center \| 1997	World Championship	2	66.70
align=center \| 1998	European Championship	3	66.46
align=center \| 1999	World Championship	4	67.53
align=center \| 2000	Lithuanian Athletics Championships	1	73.88 (NR)
align=center \| 2000	Summer Olympics	1	69.30
align=center \| 2001	World Championship	2	69.40
align=center \| 2002	European Championship	2	66.62
align=center \| 2003	World Championship	1	69.69
align=center \| 2003	World Athletics Final	1	68.30
align=center \| 2004	Summer Olympics	1The 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).	69.89 (OR)
align=center \| 2004	World Athletics Final	4	63.64
align=center \| 2005	World Championship	1	70.17
align=center \| 2005	World Athletics Final	1	67.64
align=center \| 2006	European Championship	1	68.67
align=center \| 2006	World Athletics Final	1	68.63
align=center \| 2007	World Championship	4	65.24
align=center \| 2007	World Athletics Final	2	65.94
align=center \| 2008	Summer Olympics	3	67.79
align=center \| 2008	World Athletics Final	8	61.03
align=center \| 2009	World Championship	4	66.36
align=center \| 2009	World Athletics Final	1	67.63
align=center \| 2010	European Championship	5	64.64
align=center \| 2011	World Championship	6	64.09
align=center \| 2012	Summer Olympics	4	67.38
align=center \| 2013	World Championship	16	61.91
align=center \| 2014	European Championship	21	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_European_Athletics_Championships_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_discus_throw\|59.35

File:Virgilius Alekna Berlin 2009.JPG

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 {{height|m=2.02}}, 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.[http://www.iaaf.org/news/Kind=2/newsId=14438.html IAAF]

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{{in lang|lt}} Eglė Šilinskaitė. [http://www.lrytas.lt/?data=20070829&id=spo29_a1070829&sk_id=99&view=2 Nenugalimąjį metiką įveikė kojos trauma (Unbeatable thrower was defeat by leg injury)]. Retrieved on 2007-08-29 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.iaaf.org/news/news/european-athletes-year-2017-stefanidi-vetter|title=Vetter and Stefanidi crowned European Athletes of the Year | NEWS | World Athletics}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1056575/vetter-and-stefanidi-crowned-european-athletes-of-the-year|title = Vetter and Stefanidi crowned European athletes of the year| date=14 October 2017 }}

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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.tv3.lt/naujiena/870557/olimpinis-cempionas-atskleide-kodel-prieme-liberalu-pasiulyma|title = Olimpinis čempionas atskleidė, kodėl priėmė liberalų pasiūlymą}} He lost the run-off in Naujamiestis single-member constituency,[https://www.15min.lt/naujiena/aktualu/lietuva/i-seima-nepateko-ne-vienas-liberalo-remigijaus-simasiaus-valdomo-vilniaus-liberalas-56-701657 Į Seimą nepateko nė vienas liberalo Remigijaus Šimašiaus valdomo Vilniaus liberalas] but was elected to the Twelfth Seimas through the electoral list of the party, where he was rated second.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

References

External links

{{World Athletics|14211253}}
{{Diamond League|14211253}}
{{European Athletics|14211253|old_id=a/athlete=142488-alekna-virgilijus}}
{{Olympics.com|org_archive=20201103122722}}
{{Olympedia}}
{{SR/Olympics}}
{{LTOK profile}}
[http://rzutyiskoki.pl/alekna.dy.htm ALEKNA biography rzutyiskoki.pl]

{{succession box|title=Men's Track & Field Athlete of the Year|before={{flagicon|MAR}} Hicham El Guerrouj|after={{flagicon|MAR}} Hicham El Guerrouj|years=2000}}

{{succession box|title=Men's European Athlete of the Year|before={{flagicon|SWE}} Christian Olsson|after={{flagicon|POR}} Francis Obikwelu|years=2005}}

{{succession box|title=Best Lithuanian sportsman of the Year|before={{flagicon|LTU}} Edita Pučinskaitė|after={{flagicon|LTU}} Rasa Polikevičiūtė|years=2000}}

{{succession box|title=Best Lithuanian sportsman of the Year|before={{flagicon|LTU}} Šarūnas Jasikevičius|after={{flagicon|LTU}} Ramūnas Šiškauskas|years=2004, 2005, 2006}}

{{succession box

| before = Šarūnas Jasikevičius

| title = Flagbearer for {{LIT}}

| years = London 2012

| after = Gintarė Scheidt

}}