07/08/2015 12:44
Latvian President Raimonds Vējonis visits U18 Beach Volleyball European Championship in Riga
2015 CEV U18 Beach Volleyball European Championship
Riga, Latvia, August 7, 2015. On Friday morning the organisers of the 2015 CEV U18 Beach Volleyball European Championship in Riga welcomed a very special guest. Raimonds Vējonis, head of state of Latvia, visited the sunny venue in Latvia’s capital to watch the Latvian youngsters Mihails Samoilovs / Aleksandrs Nasonovs book a 2-0 victory over Israel in their second match in the competition.
Raimonds Vējonis was officially installed in office on July 8, 2015 and is a member of the Green Party. Before that, he was the country’s Minister of Defence. Vējonis is known for being a sportsman, he follows the achievements of Latvian athletes thoroughly, and when he finds some time, he practices sports himself. Mr Vējonis was officially welcomed by the President of the Latvian Volleyball Federation, Atis Sausnītis, and by CEV Vice President and Jury President, Jan Hronek.
‘Latvia has a very important tradition in sports,’ Mr. Vējonis said on the tribune of the centre court. ‘Ice hockey, basketball, track and field, football and also beach volleyball are very popular sports in our country. We are hosting many national and international events in Latvia, and this championship is a good example of our organisational strength.’
Mr. Vējonis was a track and field athlete himself, and practiced long jump, high jump and the 100 metres sprint. Later he played basketball and also volleyball. ‘Unfortunately my work doesn’t always allow me to play sports as much as I want, but I still try to play basketball two times a week,’ Mr. Vējonis stated.
Last Sunday the Latvian president watched on television how Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins conquered a historic gold at the 2015 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship Final in Klagenfurt, Austria. Directly after the match point he congratulated the team on Twitter. Earlier this year Mr. Vējonis visited the European Games in Baku, where he met with Latvian gold medal winners Martins Plavins and Haralds Regza.
After the convincing 2-0 victory from Mihails Samoilovs and Aleksandrs Nasonovs, the president came down to the sand to congratulate his young, yet very talented countrymen. As a gift he received an original match outfit from the players. ‘I really enjoyed watching Mihails and Aleksandrs play,’ Mr. Vējonis said. ‘If they continue to play like this, I’m sure they will make it to the finals on Sunday.’
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