Weightlifter Viktors Ščerbatihs has earned Latvia’s second silver medal of the Summer Olympics in Athens. Competing in the +105-kilogram group, the 135-kilogram athlete from Dobele on Aug. 25 lifted a combined total of 455 kilograms.

Ščerbatihs lifted 205 kilograms in the snatch and 250 kilograms in the clean and jerk, for a total of 455 kilograms. The gold medal went to Hossein Reza Zadeh of Iran and the bronze to Velichko Cholakov of Bulgaria.

“I never expected to win the gold medal,” Ščerbatihs told Olympic News Service. “Reza Zadeh is unbeatable at present. Maybe someone will break his records in the future.”

Gymnast Jevgeņijs Saproņenko won Latvia’s first medal of these OIympics, a silver in the men’s vault competition, on Aug. 23.

For a compilation of Latvia’s performance in the Summer Olympics, visit the special section of Latvians Online found here.

Gymnast Jevgeņijs Saproņenko of Latvia has won the nation’s first medal of the Summer Olympics in Athens, earning a silver in the vault. His victory Aug. 23 was in part due to an error by Romanian gymnast Marian Dragulescu, who seemed almost sure to win the gold medal after a nearly perfect first vault.

Saproņenko, one of eight athletes competing in the final, recorded scores of 9.712 and 9.700 in his two vaults, for a combined total of 9.706.

The gold medal went to Gervasio Deferr of Spain, who scored 9.737. The bronze medal went to Marian Dragulescu of Romania, whose combined score was 9.612.

Dragulescu scored 9.900 on his first vault, but on his second vault stumbled off the mat for a score of 9.325.

Saproņenko told the Olympic News Service that he was more than happy with his performance, but acknowledged that the error by Dragulescu helped him win the silver medal.

“I feel lucky to have won the silver medal as Dragulescu had a bad landing in his second vault,” Saproņenko said. “His first one was amazing, simply unbelievable. At that point I figured I was definitely going to be third. But that would not matter either way, as my goal was to be in the top three!”

For a compilation of Latvia’s performance in the Summer Olympics, visit the special section of Latvians Online found here.

Latvian President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga is one of the world’s 100 most powerful women, according to the September issue of Forbes Magazine. Vīķe-Freiberga is ranked No. 70.

“On the surface,” according to the U.S.-based business magazine, “Vīķe-Freiberga appears to be an improbable choice to run this fledgling Latvian democracy.”

The segment on the Latvian president provides a short biography and notes that she has worked on improving Latvia’s economy as well as conditions for women and the nation’s Russian-speaking residents.

Topping the list of powerful women is Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. national security adviser to President George Bush.

The article was written by Elizabeth MacDonald and Chana R. Schoenberger.