Latvian long jumper Ineta Radeviča has won a bronze medal in the 2011 World Championships in track and field underway in Daegu, South Korea.

The 30-year-old Radeviča, a native of Krāslava, leaped 6.76 meters on her last try Aug. 28 to claim third place in the women’s long jump event, according to results reported on the official website of the championship, daegu2011.iaaf.org.

The gold medal went to the defending champion, 24-year-old Brittney Reese of the United States, who had only one valid jump. Her result was 6.82 meters. The silver went to Olga Kucherenko of Russia, whose best jump was 6.77 meters.

This was Radeviča’s second time competing in the World Championship. She last participated in 2005.

She is one of 15 athletes from Latvia participating in the world championships. Sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations, the championships began Aug. 27 and run through Sept. 4.

Latvian President Andris Bērziņš on Aug. 29 congratulated Radeviča on her bronze medal. She is the first athlete to win a medal in the championships in the history of independent Latvia.

The number of candidates running for the 11th Saeima has decreased by two after the Central Election Commission in Rīga struck two names from the Christian Democratic Union’s (Kristīgi demokrātiskās savienība) ticket.

Andris Grīns and Arvis Circenis were candidates from the Kurzeme election district, but because have been convicted of crimes they cannot run for the parliament, election commission spokeswoman Kristīna Bērziņa said in an Aug. 26 press release.

Both men received fines for failing to file bankruptcy applications on time. Although both have paid their fines, the terms of their punishment do not expire until after the election, according to the press release.

The parliamentary election is scheduled Sept. 17.

A total of 13 parties or political associations are fielding candidates.

A total of 342 persons born in Latvia became citizens of the United States during fiscal year 2010, according to statistics recently released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Of those, nearly a quarter—85 persons—lived in the New York City metropolitan area. The Chicago area, with 33 naturalizations, ranked second for former citizens of Latvia.

However, in a breakdown by states, California with 48 persons ranked second after New York with 77 naturalizations among former Latvian residents.

The total reflects the third year of decline in the number of Latvian residents who have become naturalized U.S. citizens. In fiscal year 2008, a total of 455 persons from Latvia became U.S citizens, while in 2009 the number dropped to 404.

In all, nearly 620,000 persons became naturalized U.S. citizens last year, according to the DHS data.

Last year 185 persons from Estonia also became U.S. citizens, as did 843 from Lithuania.