Jānis Lūsis (born May 19, 1939 in Jelgava

Jelgava

-Sports:The city's main football team, FK Jelgava, plays in the Latvian Higher League and won the 2009/2010 Latvian Football Cup.- Notable people :*August Johann Gottfried Bielenstein - linguist, folklorist, ethnographer...

, Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

) is a Latvian (and Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

) athlete who competed in javelin throw

Javelin throw

The javelin throw is a track and field athletics throwing event where the object to be thrown is the javelin, a spear approximately 2.5 metres in length. Javelin is an event of both the men's decathlon and the women's heptathlon...

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Lūsis trained at Daugava Voluntary Sports Society and later at Armed Forces sports society

Armed Forces (sports society)

Central Sports Klub of the Army or is the Russian sports society and the successor of the Soviet CSKA.-Overview:The society was one of the largest sports societies in the USSR. In the Soviet era all CSKA and SKA teams that resided in the Soviet Union belonged to the Armed Forces sports society...

. He competed in four Summer Olympics for the USSR team

USSR at the Summer Olympics

The Soviet Union first participated at the Olympic Games in 1952, and competed at the Games on 18 occasions since then. At seven of its nine appearances at the Summer Olympic Games, the team ranked first in the total number of medals won, it was second by this count on the other two...

, winning bronze in 1964 Olympics

1964 Summer Olympics

The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. Tokyo had been awarded with the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki because of Japan's...

, gold in 1968 Olympics

1968 Summer Olympics

The 1968 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Mexico City, Mexico in October 1968. The 1968 Games were the first Olympic Games hosted by a developing country, and the first Games hosted by a Spanish-speaking country...

 and silver in 1972 Olympics

1972 Summer Olympics

The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972....

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The javelin competition at the 1972 Games was the closest in Olympic history. Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

's Klaus Wolfermann

Klaus Wolfermann

Klaus Wolfermann is a former West German javelin thrower; Wolfermann won a gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich and in 1973, he set a world record in the event....

 had taken the lead from Lūsis in the fifth round with an Olympic Record throw of 90.48 meters. Then, in the sixth and final round, Lūsis let fly with a very long effort that measured at 90.46 meters - Wolfermann's two centimeter margin was, at the time, the smallest unit of measurement used in javelin competitions.

, he remains the only Latvian who has won a complete set of Olympic medals. Lūsis set two world records in javelin throw, of 91.68m in 1968 and of 93.80 m in 1972. He is also a 4-times European champion. In 1987 IAAF nominated him as the all-time greatest javelin thrower in the world.

There were many competitions for throwing a cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

 ball the furthest distance, particularly in the earlier years of the game. Wisden describes how the record was set around 1882, by one Robert Percival at Durham Sands Racecourse, at 140 yards and two feet. Former Essex allrounder Ian Pont

Ian Pont

Ian Leslie Pont is an English former cricketer. Known for a powerful throw and a brief foray into the world of baseball, Pont mainly played for Essex during his career, as did his brother Keith Pont....

 threw a ball 138 yards in Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

 in 1981. There are unconfirmed reports that Jānis Lūsis, once threw a ball 150 yards.

After Lūsis finished competing, he became an athletics coach. He is married to Elvīra Ozoliņa

Elvira Ozolina

Elvīra Anatolyevna Ozoliņa is a retired Latvian athlete, who competed in javelin throw. She won the gold medal for the USSR team in the 1960 Olympics and was awarded Order of the Red Banner of Labour that year.Ozoliņa trained at VSS Burevestnik in Leningrad...

, 1960 Olympic

1960 Summer Olympics

The 1960 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held from August 25 to September 11, 1960 in Rome, Italy...

 female champion in javelin throw. Their son, Voldemārs Lūsis

Voldemars Lusis

Voldemārs Lūsis is a former Latvian athlete, who competed in the javelin throw. He is the son of Jānis Lūsis and Elvīra Ozoliņa. Lūsis finished in eleventh place in 2001 World Championships. He competed at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics without reaching the final. During his career he was...

, is also a javelin thrower who competed in 2000 Summer Olympics

2000 Summer Olympics

The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...

 and 2004 Summer Olympics

2004 Summer Olympics

The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...

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During the 2009 Latvian Sportspersonality of the year award ceremony

Latvian Sportspersonality of the year

The Latvian Sportspersonality of the Year is chosen annually since 2005, for both men and women.-Titles by sport:- External links :*...

, Lūsis received the Lifetime Contribution to Sport award.