The event “Sport laureats 2022” brought together athletes, coaches and sports teachers from the entire Cēsis region. Welcoming the laureates in the Vidzeme concert hall “Cēsis” took place in the usual format, gathering everyone in person.
In total, the awards were presented in nine nominations, seven of which had both the jury’s assessment and the public’s vote.
It was up to the jury to decide who would receive the “Lifetime Contribution to Sport” award, choosing from several applicants. The laureate was announced and the award was presented by the chairman of the Cēsi County Council, Jānis Rozenbergs, emphasizing that this is a very inspiring nomination, because it is given to people who have dedicated a large part of their lives to sports, have been a role model and an authority for many: “This award goes to those who have left an indelible mark feet, and tonight’s laureate is just such a person. The coach’s long-term investment in professional activity clearly shows how important her trust and loyalty is to her profession and her sport. She invested her experience in the education and growth of many athletes, and was the initiator of many sports events. That is the coach before whom I bow my head – Ilze Cekule!”
I. Cekule is a long-time skiing and biathlon coach of Cēsu Sports School. The laureate herself told that her hometown is Pļaviņa, where she also indulged in the charm of sports. The credit goes to the legendary skiing coach Imantas Vitolas, whose student she was, because skiing was the number one sport in Pļaviņas at that time.
“I finished high school in Plavinė, as well as a sports school,” said I. Cekule. “After graduating from high school, I submitted documents to the Faculty of Forestry of the Academy of Agriculture, because my father was a forester. After submitting the documents, I came home, one classmate said – what are you going to do there, you only have sports in your heart. The next day I went to Jelgava, took out my documents and entered the Institute of Physical Culture. After finishing it, I came to Cēsis in 1977, worked for a while at the sports association “Vārpa”, but since 1986 I have been a skiing and biathlon coach at the Cēsis Sports School.”
The trainer admits that it is impossible to count how many students have passed through her hands during these years, they are many hundreds. Among her students, biathletes Jānis Bērziņš and Gerda Krūmiņa, as well as Inga Dauskāne in skiing, have participated in the Olympic Games, while a considerable number of students have participated in the Youth Olympic Games and Olympic festivals.
“It is a special pleasure for the students who continue to work as coaches at the Cēsi Sports School or have otherwise connected their lives with sports! I don’t know if I have helped sports, or sports helped me, but sports is my whole life,” I. Cekule did not hide.
In the “Sportsman of the Year” nomination, the best Latvian MTB rider Mārtiņš Blūms received the award for the second year in a row. Latvian champion in MTB Olympic cross country (XCO), 5th place winner in MTB XCO shortened distance at the World Championship in France, and won a high sixth place at the MTB Marathon World Championship in Denmark.
The representative of the jury, one of the members of the sports council, Eric Bauer, while presenting this award, stated that this nomination received the most applications, so it was not easy for the jury to make a choice.
M. Blum himself could not come to receive the award, because he had to be in the Netherlands, where the presentation of the MTB team he represented took place. In the sent video greeting, the athlete admitted that the past season was successful: “You can always wish for higher results, but considering that I was injured in the middle of the season, the second part was very successful. Thanks for rating!”
In the public vote, the young motor sportsman Adrians Drozds, the Baltic champion in motocross in the 85 cm3 class, won the “Sportsman of the Year” nomination.
The award in the nomination “Sportswoman of the Year” was presented by the five-time world champion in motocross Kristers Sergis, emphasizing that the event “Sports laureate” is very important for athletes, coaches, the whole sports family, in order to mobilize again, work, continue training and achieve success.
The prize went to the BMX rider from Jaunpiebalga, Veronika Monika Stūriška, who last year triumphed in the overall standings of the World Cup (WK) competition in supercross in the U23 group. She also won a silver medal at the Junior World Championship.
Continuer of the tradition. In the “Sports event of the year” nomination, the renewed run “Around Cēsīm”, organized by the manager and coach of the “Ashais” sports club Austris Āboliņš together with Kristīni Vilcāni, was awarded.
Let us remind you that last year she received the audience award, this year she was recognized as the best in the jury’s evaluation. In a conversation with “Druva”, she says that it is more important, because the internet vote is and remains an internet vote, where the results can be different: “Thank you for the award, such an evaluation gives additional motivation to work even better, to show better and better performance.”
Now the athlete’s time is spent in training, studying, the serious competition season will start only in June, but as the BMX rider admits, I can’t wait for the new season!
The second BMX representative among the applicants, Vineta Pētersone, who is currently preparing for the new season in Colombia, won the public vote. In a video greeting, she stated that the season will be very important to qualify for the Paris Summer Olympics, which will take place next year.
In the nomination “Sports event of the year”, the renewed race “Around Cēsis” received the award. The prize was presented by sports event, also a supporter of this race, marathoner who has run marathons in 17 different cities of the world, Ansis Kuplis. He pointed out that this is actually the most important award: “All athletes train and prepare to participate in competitions, so every sports event is the most important event in their career.”
The cup gets a new owner. The traveling cup “Sport laureat” from the hands of the head of the Cēsi Tennis Association Raimonds Galinskas (from the left) goes to the head of the sports club “Meridiāns” Kaspars Radziņas.
The restorer and main organizer of the run is Austris Āboliņš, the head and coach of the Ashais sports club. Among the nominated events were the Latvian and Baltic cross-country championships he organized in the scenic surroundings of the Āraiši Windmill.
In his speech, he emphasized the importance of traditions in sports as well: “In my opinion, every nation is as strong as its traditions. But in Latvia in the last ten years we have gone the wrong way, traditions are eradicated, we are told that everything that is fresh and new is cool! But really? Once upon a time, I promised Juri Kreilis, who previously held the race “Around Cēsis”, to restore it, and there is a good reason for that. This fall, we will go to the race in Saaremaa with the runners of the Ashais club, which will be held for the 50th time, and therefore the Estonians are probably a little higher than us. Therefore, I can promise that in years to come Cēsis will be one of the best races in Europe. In the first year, we managed to gather Latvia’s best runners, including Dmitri Seryogin, which is far from easy, but I really hope that in five years we will gather at least the best of Northern Europe!”
“Rally Cēsis” received the most votes in the public vote in this nomination.
Thoughts were not shared. The “Team of the Year” nomination was the only one in which both the jury and the audience recognized the eight-time Latvian champions – the Lekrings floorball team – as the winners.
It is symbolic that this sports event also returned after a longer period of silence. As its organizer Māris Millers said, 14 years have passed since the last Cēsis rally: “Since the founding of our association “Millers motorsport”, we have lived with the goal of returning the big rally to Cēsis, and this year we fulfilled it. We did it with flying colors, we didn’t expect that representatives of 12 countries would come, that it would be a real sports festival!”
Austris Āboliņš once again took the stage to receive the award in the “Coach of the Year” nomination. He emphasized that we should not be afraid to dream big dreams: “I have a saying that I teach my students: dream, aim, believe!” If we have a dream, it’s already a step forward, if we believe – it’s another step, but the most important thing is the goal, which makes us continue to go towards it!”
Andris Malkavs, the head coach of the “Lekrings” floorball team, received the prize in the public vote. In turn, the team he led was recognized as the best in the “Team of the Year” nomination, as well as in the evaluation of both the jury and the public. This was the only nomination where the opinions of both the jury and the Internet voters coincided. Last year, “Lekrings” won the national championship title, which is already the eighth in the team’s history.
Sportswoman of the year. The jury recognized BMX rider Veronika Monika Sturiška from Jaunpiebalga as the best athlete, who received not only an award, but also a laurel wreath.
Roberts Glazers, a student of the sports club “Ashais” and the Cēsi sports school, received the award in the nomination “Hope in sport”. He is the Latvian and Baltic champion in the U20 group in the 1500 m distance, the Latvian U20 champion in cross-country running, the winner of many prize-winning places in Latvian and international competitions, also a member of the “Latvija in the world” team.
Ultramarathonist Mārcis Petzāle was recognized as the best in the nomination “Cerība sportā” by the public’s vote, who managed to improve his result in the Riga – Valmiera race last year by three hours compared to the year before.
In the “Sports teacher of the year” nomination, discus thrower Vineta Krūmiņa presented the award, stressing that everyone had a sports teacher during school from whom they could gain something: “Someone gained confidence in themselves, someone – courage or the ability not to stop, but maybe someone had a sports teacher was the one who introduced the young man to sports, and maybe that’s why we have so many European, world and Olympic champions.”
This year, the sports teacher of Spāre School, Jānis Freivalds, whose students have shown high results in Latvian and international competitions, received the award. He was also the organizer of the Latvian Special Olympics, which took place in Cēsis last year.
“It is a great honor for me to work at my school, to work with my athletes. Our students also have their own Olympic Games, which take place once every four years. The last ones were in Abu Dhabi, where teams from 189 countries participated, including young people from our school, winning awards, even the highest forge. This is a great challenge for our children, a great honor,” noted J. Freivald in his speech.
Sports teacher Zane Rozīte got the most votes in the public vote.
During the event, the biggest supporters of sports were also welcomed, because without them, sports life would be unimaginable.
As usual, in the end, the new owner won the “Sports laureate” traveling cup. Initially, the winner of this award was determined by the visitors of the event, voting among all laureates, but in recent years, according to the regulations, the traveling cup is presented to the most active association that has achieved high results or done something special in the previous year. The winner of the Traveling Cup is determined by the jury.
Last year, it was received by the Cēsis Tennis Association. Its leader, Raimonds Galinskis, before giving the award to the orientation club “Meridians”, admitted with a smile that he can prepare a speech for receiving the award, but what to say when giving it back?
“Meridiāns” celebrated the 50th anniversary of the series last year, and also won the 1st place in the overall rating of the Latvian Club Cup, while the club’s orienteers won a total of 50 medals in national championships.
The event was led by sports journalist Reinis Ošinek, the mime duo “Koka medaļa” animated the event, depicting both specific nominations and sports in their sketches. The musical part was provided by the big band “Cēsis”.
