The reason to expect the first medals in 2025 in high-stakes competitions will be already next weekend, when the European luge championship will take place on the German track in Winterberg. At the end of the summer, the spotlight will be on Tokyo with the world’s best track and field athletes.
Zero as Sigulda World Cup (WK) in luge competition with places in the top three in all individual disciplines, Latvian athletes confirmed that after a modest start to the season, they are still competitive at the highest level. In the women’s competition, Elīna Ieva Bota won on the home track, but the most realistic candidates for medals will be Mārtiņš Bots and Roberta Plūmi, who are in the first position in the PK overall ranking. The lugers will distribute the World Championship medal sets at the beginning of February at the Whistler track in Canada. Taking into account that European representatives dominate in the luge sport, as only the US ladies’ duo is among the top three in the PK overall ranking of riders from other continents, we can also look with hope towards the track of the 2010 Olympic Games in the direction of Whistler.
For many years, bobsledders and skeleton athletes have also been happy, but after the composition changes this year, there is no reason to expect medals in these sports. However, Andrejs Rastorgujevs and Baiba Bendika continue the traditions in biathlon. Both raised the bar of achievement to unprecedented heights at the World Championship last year. Rastorgujevs has won a silver medal and achieved the highest success in the history of Latvian biathlon. Bendika took fifth place, which is the highest ever in Latvian women’s competition.
Among the representatives of winter sports, short-track skiers Roberta Kruzberg and Reina Bērzyn and figure skater Denis Vasiļjeva should not be forgotten. Both Latvian short track athletes have been in the top three at the World Cup level. The European Championship will take place in Dresden next weekend, while in March in Beijing there will be much more serious competition at the World Championship. The same is true of figure skater Vasiliev. Three years ago, at the European Championship in Tallinn, Deniss won a historic bronze medal for Latvia in this sport, whereas he has not really been involved in the fight for an award at the world level. It is significant that the European Championship will start at the end of January on the ice of Tallinn, which is favorable to Vasiliev.
The most important event of the year for summer individual sports will be the World Athletics Championships (WC) in Tokyo in September. Javelin thrower Anete Sietiņa (formerly Kociņa) provided pleasant moments of support at the 2023 WC in Budapest. Even before the last series of throws, she was in the silver position, but in the end had to settle for fourth place. After the ball of the queen of sports, you will have to turn your attention to road cycling, because at the end of September in the capital of Rwanda, Kigali, the WC in this sport will begin. Toms Skujiņš, with his excellent performance at last year’s WC in Zurich and Paris Olympic Games, taking fourth and fifth place respectively, has raised hopes that after Roman Vainstein became the world champion in 2000, the Latvian can once again reach a medal in one of the most popular and difficult summer sports.
After a six-year break, the European competition will be hosted by the Valmiera BMX track, where the home team lacked a high-level leader in the previous continental championships, but Monika Veronika Stūriška is preparing for this role this summer.
Another Latvian athlete, Aļona Ostapenko, is firmly in the elite of world tennis and will aim for the highest places in one of the four this year as well. Grand Slam.