Jānis Lūsis

The title of this article is ambiguous. For the Soviet zoologist and geneticist, see Jānis Lūsis (zoologist) .

Jānis Lūsis
Jānis Lūsis (2011)
nation	Soviet Union
birthday	May 19, 1939
place of birth	Jelgava ,  Latvia
date of death	April 29, 2020
Career
discipline	Javelin throw
Best performance	93.80 m
Medal table
Olympic Summer Games 1 × 1 × 1 ×
Olympic games bronze 1964 Tokyo 80.57 m gold 1968 Mexico City 90.01 m ( OR ) silver 1972 Munich 90.46 m

Jānis Lūsis (born May 19, 1939 in Jelgava , Latvia ; † April 29, 2020 ) was a Latvian javelin thrower and Olympic champion from 1968 who started for the Soviet Union .

Life

Shortly after the end of the Second World War , the father of Jānis Lūsis was shot by looting Soviet soldiers. Lūsis grew up in Matkule , his mother's home village. There he attended elementary school and later a secondary school in Kandava . From 1957 he studied at the State Institute for Physical Culture in Riga and at the same time took part in the first athletics competitions; only now did he begin to throw the javelin.

The career of Lūsis as a javelin thrower lasted until 1976. During this time he took part in four Olympic Games and was the only athlete from Latvia to win a complete set of medals ( as of 2020 ). He celebrated his first major success by winning the European Championships in 1962 , which was followed by three more European titles ( 1966 , 1969 , 1971 ). At the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964 he won the bronze medal, and four years later in Mexico City he became Olympic champion . At the Munich Games in 1972 , the German Klaus Wolfermann beat him by two centimeters with 90.48 m in a legendary duel . In 1976 in Montreal , Lūsis was eighth again. He was also world record holder several times, most recently with the width of 93.80 m thrown in Stockholm on July 6, 1972 . He also set two Latvian records in the decathlon .

After retiring as an active athlete, Lūsis worked as a spear throwing coach. Most recently he trained the decathlete Laura Ikauniece . He was married to the 1960 javelin Olympic champion Elvīra Ozoliņa . Their son Voldemārs Lūsis took part as a javelin thrower in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games.

In 2019 Janis Lūsis was diagnosed with a malignant tumor on the head. He was operated on several times; his treatment was financially supported by the Latvian NOK and the Olympic Social Fund of Latvia. Lūsis died in April 2020 at the age of 80. In obituaries he was called "the best javelin thrower of all time".

Honors

In 1999 Janis Lūsis was awarded the Latvian Three Star Order (Commander) and was inducted into the IAAF Hall of Fame in 2014.

literature

• Andris Staģis: Šķēpa karalis Jānis . 2009 (Latvian).

Web links

Commons : Jānis Lūsis  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Jānis Lūsis in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Jānis Lūsis in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Elmārs Rudzītis: Atvadīšanās no leģendārā šķēpmetēja Jāņa Lūša notiks otrdien. In: nra.lv. May 2, 2020, accessed on May 2, 2020 (Latvian). 
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Ilmārs Stūriška: “Fantastisks cilvēks, nekad neatteica.” Atvadīsies no leģendārā Jāņa Lūša. May 5, 2020, accessed May 5, 2020 (Latvian). 
3. ↑ dpa / sb Latvian javelin legend Janis Lusis died , Olympic champion 1968, on: Leichtathletik.de, April 30, 2020, accessed May 1, 2020
4. ↑ Romāns Kokšarovs: LŪDZ palīdzību leģendārajam šķēpmetējam Jānim Lūsim. In: nra.lv. March 11, 2020, accessed on May 1, 2020 (Latvian). 
5. ↑ Romāns Kokšarovs: Latvijas Olimpiskā komiteja palīdzēs Jānim Lūsim nepieciešamo medikamentu iegādē. In: tautaruna.nra.lv. Accessed May 1, 2020 (Latvian). 
6. ↑ hba / dpa: Olympic champion from 1968: Latvian javelin thrower Janis Lusis is dead. In: Spiegel Online . April 29, 2020, accessed April 29, 2020 . 
7. ^ Décès à 80 ans de Janis Lusis, meilleur lanceur de javelot de tous les temps. In: lesoir.be. April 29, 2020, accessed on April 29, 2020 (French). 
8. ↑ Janis Nicmanis: TRIJŲ Zvaigžņu Ordeña. In: lspa.lv. Accessed May 1, 2020 (Latvian). 
9. Jump up ↑ Champion Javelin Thrower joins Hall of Fame. In: latvia.eu. April 10, 2015, accessed May 1, 2020 .