The Lithuanian bodyguard is back to defend his Sydney and Athens golds in Beijing.
Virgilijus Alekna, defending Olympic champion, will be aiming for his third successive discus gold medal at the Beijing Olympics after success at Sydney 2000 and being awarded the gold at Athens 2004.
In Sydney, Alekna beat German defending champion Lars Riedel with a throw of 69.30 metres to win his first gold, and later that year achieved his personal best of 73.88 metres, just behind East German Juergen Schult's world record of 74.08 set in 1986.
In Sydney, Alekna beat German defending champion Lars Riedel with a throw of 69.30 metres to win his first gold, and later that year achieved his personal best of 73.88 metres, just behind East German Juergen Schult's world record of 74.08 set in 1986.
Alekna, who is also a bodyguard to Lithuania's former president, finished second at the Athens Games, but Hungarian Robert Fazekas was stripped of the gold medal for failing a doping test and the title went to the defending champ with an Olympic record throw of 69.89 metres.
"It is good that justice prevailed. It is very important in sports and, I think, anti-doping rules have to be made even stricter to discourage anyone from trying [doping]," Alekna, told Reuters.
"In Lithuania, most people expect me to win a third gold medal and it would be wrong to say I am going there only to take part. I am going after the highest award."
Sporting dreams
The first sporting dream of Alekna, 1.98 metres tall and with a two-metre arm span, was to play basketball, the most popular sport in Lithuania, but he started too late at the sports school he attended in northern Lithuania.
He then tried javelin, which he did not like, before moving to discus.
There were times when he was at a risk of being excluded from the school for not performing well enough and when Lithuania regained its independence in 1990 from the former Soviet Union, sport was not his first priority.
The 36-year-old drew inspiration from discus thrower Romas Ubartas, who won Olympic gold in 1992, the first for independent Lithuania.
"My sportsman's path began when I ended fifth at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996," said Alekna.
In Beijing in August Alekna faces challenges from another Balt, Estonia's Gerd Kanter, and Iran's Ehsan Hadadi.
"It is good that justice prevailed. It is very important in sports and, I think, anti-doping rules have to be made even stricter to discourage anyone from trying [doping]," Alekna, told Reuters.
"In Lithuania, most people expect me to win a third gold medal and it would be wrong to say I am going there only to take part. I am going after the highest award."
Sporting dreams
The first sporting dream of Alekna, 1.98 metres tall and with a two-metre arm span, was to play basketball, the most popular sport in Lithuania, but he started too late at the sports school he attended in northern Lithuania.
He then tried javelin, which he did not like, before moving to discus.
There were times when he was at a risk of being excluded from the school for not performing well enough and when Lithuania regained its independence in 1990 from the former Soviet Union, sport was not his first priority.
The 36-year-old drew inspiration from discus thrower Romas Ubartas, who won Olympic gold in 1992, the first for independent Lithuania.
"My sportsman's path began when I ended fifth at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996," said Alekna.
In Beijing in August Alekna faces challenges from another Balt, Estonia's Gerd Kanter, and Iran's Ehsan Hadadi.
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