Twenty five year old Māris Štrombergs from Latvia, nicknamed “The Machine”, repeated his Beijing 2008 victory and took the gold medal in the men’s Bicycle Motocross (a.k.a BMX) at London finishing in 37.576 seconds. He is the first ever athlete from Latvia to win two Olympic gold medals. BMX was introduced to the Olympics in 2008 and Štrombergs has been the sport’s only Olympic gold medalist.

Strombergs is 25 and was born in Valmiera but now lives in California. He took up biking at the age of 6 and between races is known to visit elementary schools to promote a healthy diet and life-style.

After winning in Beijing, Štrombergs struggled on the racing circuit. In 2010 he suffered major injuries that required surgery and took him out of action for six months. He had not impressed in the lead-up at London and finished 3rd in his semi-final heat. But the veteran racer put it together when it counted and led throughout the final run staying ahead of the Australian silver medal winner. Colombia took the bronze.

Meanwhile Latvia’s 24 year old BMXer Edžus Treimanis placed 5th in his semi-final run while 20 year old Rihards Veide came in 7th. Although neither advanced, Latvia made a strong statement placing three of the final sixteen riders. Latvia’s sole women’s BMXer, 21 year old Sandra Aleksejeva, finished 7th in her semi-final heat and did not advance.

After falling behind and losing the 1st set, Latvia’s Mārtiņš Pļaviņš and Jānis Šmēdiņš rallied to win the last two sets and defeated the Dutch bringing home a bronze medal for Latvia. Beach volleyball was first played at the 1996 Atlanta games and is popular around the world. For Latvia to win a bronze medal and hold their own against the likes of Germany, Brazil and the United States is a major accomplishment.

Meanwhile Latvia’s BMXers came through in the quarterfinals. Edžus Treimanis, Rihards Veide and Beijing gold medalist Māris Štrombergs, all advanced to Friday’s semi-finals. Latvia has three riders in the two semi-final heats. That’s more than any other country. Australia, Colombia, France, the Netherlands and the United States have two while Great Britain, New Zealand and Switzerland round off the field each with one. The final consisting of the top eight will also be run on Friday.

Latvia has a tradition of excelling in the bobsleigh, luge and the skeleton, dangerous winter sports where athletes hurl themselves down icy runs at breath-taking speeds. Perhaps it’s not surprising that they’re leaving their mark in BMX cycling which also features wild rides by cyclists racing around a tight course with jumps and sharp bends.

Ineta Radeviča missed a bronze medal in the women’s long-jump on Wednesday by only 1cm and came in fourth. One centimeter is just over 3/8 of an inch. That’s how close she came.

While Latvia’s canoeists, pentathletes and a wrestler are still competing, all eyes will be on the BMXers to see if they can bring home another medal. That would equal the medal count won by each of Lithuania and Estonia.

A day after Martins Plavins and Janis Smedins stunned the United States in an upset win in the beach volleyball quarter-final, the two were beaten in the semi-finals by the world’s top pair from Brazil. Latvia now plays the Netherlands for the bronze medal on Thursday with the loser taking fourth place. It is worth noting that Plavins and Smedins swept the same Dutch pair 2:0 in the preliminary round. But win or lose, Latvia was in the news. Millions took note and you can’t buy that type of publicity.

Heading into the last four days of competition, the majority of Latvia’s athletes have competed and failed to advance. A number are still competing or coming up and could bring in a medal.

Ineta Radevica advanced to the finals in the women’s long jump being held on Wednesday. She won the bronze at the world championships in 2011 and was the European champion in 2010. The BMXers led by Beijing gold medalist Maris Strombergs kick-off three days of competition starting on Wednesday. Latvia will also be competing in a number of other track and field events, the pentathlon, wrestling and weight lifting.

Among those through, Laura Ikauniece finished 9th in the heptathlon while Polina Jelizarova placed 13th in the 3000m steeplechase. Latvia’s other beach volleyball pair Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Ruslans Sorokins also finished 9th although they were tied with eight other countries who did not get past the round of sixteen.