With a throw of 18.98 meters, Aigars Apīnis has won a gold medal for Latvia in the discus event during the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece. He also set a new Paralympic record.

Apīnis won in the F52 class. His first of three throws in the Sept. 21 final broke the record set in 2000 by Ghader Modobber Raz of Iran.

““I have been preparing for four years to come to Athens and win the gold medal,” Apīnis said after the event, according to the official Athens 2004 Web site. “What makes it more important for me is the fact that this is the first Paralympic Games (gold) medal for my country.”

The silver medal went to Rico Glagla of Germany and the bronze to Peter Martin of New Zealand.

“I was very anxious because athletes with better personal bests competed,” Apīnis said. “So until the last moment of the competition I was afraid that someone might throw further than I had.”

His gold medal is the second medal for Latvia. Edgars Bergs won a silver in the shot put on Sept. 21.

Latvian shot putter Edgars Bergs has won a silver medal in the Paralympic Games underway in Athens, Greece. Bergs’ first effort of 13.55 meters also is his personal best in the event.

The gold medal in the finals of the Sept. 20 men’s shot put went to Wei Guo of China. The bronze went to Thierry Cibone of France.

Bergs, a Saldus native who recently marked his 20th birthday, is one of seven athletes representing Latvia in the games. The others are Aigars Apinis, Maija Emulova, Sanita Lietniece, Andis Ozolnieks, Ingrīda Priede and Ivita Strode. All are competing in athletics events.

The Paralympic Games, for athletes with disabilities, opened Sept. 17 and run through Sept. 28.

In the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney, Australia, the Latvian team won three bronze medals.

The Latvian-British rock group Arvīds un Mūrsitēji will play three concerts in Rīga clubs during the first week of October, the band has announced.

The band is scheduled Oct. 4 to play in Austrumu Robeža, Vāgnera iela 8, Rīga. The concert is to be taped by Latvian State Television for its “Siena šķūnis” program.

On Oct. 7, Arvīds un Mūrsitēji will join the band Inokentijs Marpls in concert in the Depo club, Vaļņu ielā 32, Rīga. And on Oct. 8, the band will play the club Casablanca, Smilšu iela 1/3, Rīga.

The band also is scheduled to make an Oct. 3 appearance on the college-oriented FM radio station, Radio Naba. The broadcast can be heard live over the Internet at www.radionaba.lv.

Arvīds un Mūrsitēji includes Raimonds Dāle on guitar, Dāvis Pētersons on drums, Pēteris Pētersons on bass guitar, Aivars Sinka on vocals and Līnīte Zobens-East on guitar, trombone and vocals.

The band is one of the oldest Latvian rock bands outside of Latvia, dating from 1979. The group disbanded in the early 1980s, but reformed in 1989, according to the band’s Web site. The death of 28-year-old guitarist Juris Jostiņš cut short the band’s revival. But in 2002, the band reformed again. Since then, it has played several concerts in the United Kingdom.

For more information about Arvīds un Mūrsitēji, visit the band’s Web site.