Māris Štrombergs

Māris Štrombergs
Štrombergs (left) during the 2012 Olympic Games
Personal information
NicknameŠtrombis (Shtrombis), The "Machine"
Born (1987-03-10) 10 March 1987 (age 37)
Valmiera, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union
Height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight90 kg (198 lb; 14 st 2 lb)
Team information
Current teamTālava, Latvian Olympic Team,
Free Agent Bicycles World Team & Rockst★r
DisciplineBicycle motocross (BMX racing)
RoleRider
Rider typeBMX
Professional teams
One
Kenda
Free Agent Bicycles
Medal record
Men's BMX
Representing  Latvia
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing Men's BMX
Gold medal – first place 2012 London Men's BMX
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2008 Taiyuan Men's BMX
Gold medal – first place 2010 Pietermaritzburg Men's BMX
Silver medal – second place 2011 Copenhagen Men's BMX
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2008 Men's BMX
Gold medal – first place 2013 Men's BMX
Gold medal – first place 2014 Men's BMX
Bronze medal – third place 2007 Men's BMX

Māris Štrombergs (born 10 March 1987) is a Latvian former professional BMX racer. In the 2008 Summer Olympics he became the first Olympic champion in BMX cycling. Earlier that year he won the 2008 UCI BMX World Championships.[1] In 2012 he prolonged his Olympic title by winning the gold medal in the London Olympics.[2]

Štrombergs was born in Valmiera. His first trainer was Raimonds Ciesnieks. However, the longest collaboration was with Ivo Lakučs. Māris Štrombergs completed the Olympic 2008 BMX in about 36 seconds. Māris completed the Olympic 2012 BMX course in 37.576 seconds. Upon returning from the 2012 Olympics he was greeted by thousands of fans in hometown Valmiera.

On November 13, 2018 Māris Štrombergs announced his retirement.[3]

Career bicycle motocross titles

Štrombergs meeting with Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis and members of the Latvian NOC during the 2012 Olympics

Amateur/junior men

  • "2001 The European youth challenge (European Challenge) Champion"
  • "2005 European Junior Champion."

National Bicycle League (NBL)

  • None

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

  • None

Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*

International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*

  • 1996 (Worlds Challenge Class), World Champion of nine years in boys' group.

Professional/elite men

National Bicycle League (NBL)

  • "2009 Elite Men ("AA") Pro Nat.#1"
  • "2010 Elite Men ("AA") Grand National Champion Nat.#1 Pro"

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

  • "2009 Vice-champion"
  • "2014 Pro Nat.#1 Men (AA)"

International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*

  • None (defunct)

Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*

  • None (defunct. FIAC did not have a strictly professional division during its existence).

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*

  • "2008 Elite Men Gold Medal World Champion"
  • "2010 Elite Men Gold Medal World Champion"
  • "2011 Elite Men Silver Medal World Champion"

References

  1. ^ "Strombergs keeps his head to win BMX gold". August 22, 2008. Archived from the original on August 24, 2008. Retrieved August 22, 2008.
  2. ^ "London Olympics: Strombergs defends men's BMX title". The Times of India. Retrieved August 10, 2012.
  3. ^ Sports, DELFI (November 13, 2018). "Divkārtējais olimpiskais čempions Štrombergs liek punktu izcilajai karjerai". delfi.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved August 22, 2019.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Māris Štrombergs.
Awards
Preceded by Latvian Sportspersman of the Year
2008
2012 		Succeeded by
Olympic Games
Preceded by Flagbearer for  Latvia
Rio de Janeiro 2016 		Succeeded by


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