Latvia at the 2016 Summer Paralympics

Latvia competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. They won four medals; two gold and two bronze. It was their most successful paralympic games to date.

Latvia at the
2016 Summer Paralympics
IPC codeLAT
NPCLatvian Paralympic Committee
Websitewww.lpkomiteja.lv (in Latvian)
in Rio de Janeiro
Competitors11 in 6 sports
Medals
Ranked 45th
Gold
2
Silver
0
Bronze
2
Total
4
Summer Paralympics appearances (overview)
Other related appearances
 Soviet Union (1988)

Disability classifications

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Every participant at the Paralympics has their disability grouped into one of five disability categories; amputation, the condition may be congenital or sustained through injury or illness; cerebral palsy; wheelchair athletes, there is often overlap between this and other categories; visual impairment, including blindness; Les autres, any physical disability that does not fall strictly under one of the other categories, for example dwarfism or multiple sclerosis.[1][2] Each Paralympic sport then has its own classifications, dependent upon the specific physical demands of competition. Events are given a code, made of numbers and letters, describing the type of event and classification of the athletes competing. Some sports, such as athletics, divide athletes by both the category and severity of their disabilities, other sports, for example swimming, group competitors from different categories together, the only separation being based on the severity of the disability.[3]

Medallists

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Medal Name Sport Event Date
  Gold Aigars Apinis Athletics Men's discus throw F51/52 8 September
  Gold Diāna Dadzīte Athletics Women's javelin throw F515/56 10 September
  Bronze Edgars Bergs Athletics Men's shot put F35 12 September
  Bronze Diāna Dadzīte Athletics Women's discus throw F55 17 September
Medals by sport
Sport       Total
Athletics 2 0 2 4
Total 2 0 2 4

Archery

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Latvia qualified one archer for the Rio Games following their performance at the 2015 World Archery Para Championships. Ieve Melle earned the spot in the women's recurve open after defeating Czech archer Marketa Sidkova in straight sets.[4]

Athlete Event Ranking round Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
Score Seed Opposition
score
Opposition
score
Opposition
score
Opposition
score
Opposition
score
Rank
Gints Jonasts Men's individual recurve open 541 32   Ranjbarkivaj (IRI)
L 2–6
did not advance 17
Ieva Melle Women's individual recurve open 592 12   Lee (TPE)
W 6–5
  Silva Carvalho (BRA)
W 6–4
  Olszewska (POL)
L 0–6
did not advance 8
Gints Jonasts
Ieva Melle
Mixed team recurve open 1133 13 Bye   Airoldi /
Mijno (ITA)
L 0–6
did not advance 9

Athletics

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Athlete Event Heat Final
Result Rank Result Rank
Aigars Apinis Men's discus throw F52 20.83  
Edgars Bergs Men's shot put F35 14.55  
Diāna Dadzīte Women's discus throw F55 22.66  
Women's javelin throw F56 23.26  
Taiga Kantāne Women's discus throw F38 23.53 11
Women's shot put F37 8.78 7

Equestrian

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The country earned an individual slot via the Para Equestrian Individual Ranking List Allocation method.[5]

Athlete Horse Event Final
Result Rank
Rihards Snikus King of the Dance Individual Championship test grade Ia 73.174 6
Individual Freestyle test grade Ia 72.900 5

Rowing

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Athlete(s) Event Heats Repechage Final
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
Eduards Pupelis
Žanna Cvečkovska
Mixed double sculls 4:36.95 6 R 4:41.33 5 FB 4:32.39 11

Eduards Pupels Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); R=Repechage

Swimming

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Men
Athlete Event Heat Final
Result Rank Result Rank
Jānis Plotnieks 100 m backstroke S10 1:07.96 11 did not advance

Wheelchair fencing

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Women
Athlete Event Group stage Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
Opposition Result Rank Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Rank
Polina Rožkova Individual épée A   Yevheniia Breus (UKR) L 2–5 6 did not advance
  Yu Chui Yee (HKG) W 5–2
  Marta Fidrych (POL) L 3–5
  Veres Amarilla (HUN) L 1–5
  Bian Jing (CHN) L 1–5
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On 15 November 2016 Latvijas Pasts issued three different postage stamps to commemorate the three Latvian medal winners of the 2016 Paralympics, which makes it the first time in Latvian history that paralympics are commemorated with a postage stamp issue.[6]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Paralympics categories explained". ABC. 3 September 2008. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  2. ^ "Making sense of the categories". BBC Sport. 6 October 2000. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  3. ^ "A-Z of Paralympic classification". BBC Sport. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  4. ^ "DONAUESCHINGEN AWARDS 82 RIO 2016 PARALYMPIC QUOTA PLACES". World Archery Federation. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  5. ^ "EQUESTRIAN" (PDF). FEI. International Paralympic Committee. August 24, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  6. ^ "Latvijas Pasts izdevis paralimpiskajiem varoņiem veltītas pastmarkas" (in Latvian). kasjauns.lv. 15 November 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2016.