The best athletes of the year receive the “Three Star Award”
Track and field athlete Anete Sietiņa and road cyclist Toms Skujiņš have been recognized as the best athletes of 2025 in Latvia. They were presented with the prestigious “Three Star Award” at a solemn ceremony. For Aneta Sietiņa, this is the first such award in her career, while Toms Skujiņš has received it for the second year in a row, proving his stability and excellence in Latvian sports. As reported by Diena newspaper, the event was held in the Riga circus, honoring the outstanding Latvian sports of the past year.
The impressive achievements of Sietiņas and Skujiņas in 2025
Anete Sietiņa won the title of athlete of the year for her success, winning a silver medal at the World Championship in javelin. This achievement is the highest success of Latvian javelin throwers in the world championships since the restoration of independence. She also achieved a new personal record – 64.64 meters, which is one of the best results ever in women’s javelin in the history of Latvian athletics. Toms Skujiņš won recognition as the best athlete of the year, proving himself as one of the elite cyclists of Europe and the world. In the race of the elite group of the World Championship, he won the 5th place on a particularly difficult course, where only 30 of the 164 participants finished. Also at the European Championship, Skujiņš took 5th place in the elite group race, finishing only 17 out of 97 starters. His achievements are rated as one of the highest in Latvian cycling history.
Other important awards and nominations
The Latvian men’s floorball team was recognized as the sports team of the year for the fourth place in the World Championship. The title of the small team of the year was won by the beach volleyball duo Tīna Graudiņa and Anastasija Samoilova, who became World Champions, winning a historic gold for Latvia. Anete Sietiņa’s coach Gints Palameiks received the award as the best coach of the year, while beach volleyball player Mārtiņš Pļaviņš was named the youth coach of the year. Speed racer Andrzej Lebedev was recognized as the best athlete of the year in technical sports, while biathlete Ester Wolff won the rising star of the year award.
Para-athletes and the investment of a lifetime
Para-athlete Diāna Krūmiņa and para-dressage athlete Rihards Snikus were recognized as the best Paralympic athletes of the year. Krūmiņa won two gold medals at the World Championships in javelin and discus, while Snikus won two gold medals at the European Championships in para dressage. Volleyball coach Andris Vitauts Kļaviņš, who is an important figure in the history of Latvian women’s volleyball, received the award for lifetime contribution to sports.
Ceremony and other nominations
At the ceremony, awards were presented in 15 nominations, honoring the outstanding Latvian sportsmen of the past year. Arvis Sprude received the sports teacher of the year award. Ulvis Brože from the portal “Sportacentrs.com” won the sports journalist of the year award. The city of Riga was rated as the best municipality in sports. Ceriņi family from Cēsi county was recognized as the sports family of the year.
