Total Raimonds Bergmanis (born 25 July 1966) is a

Latvian politician The politics of Latvia takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the prime minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. The President holds a primarily ceremonial role as Hea ...

and former

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

. He is also a former

Olympic weightlifter Weightlifting (often known as Olympic weightlifting) is a competitive strength sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with the aim of successfully lifting the heaviest weights ...

and

Strongman Strongman is a competitive strength sport which tests athletes' physical strength and endurance through a variety of heavy lifts and events. Strongman competitions are known for their intensity, pushing athletes to their physical and mental limit ...

Athletic career

Bergmanis was part of the Latvian Olympic Weightlifting team, and set 21 Latvian records. He is a three-time Olympian (

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

and

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

). He placed 14th in the Super-Heavyweight (110+ kilograms) weight class in 1992, 9th in the Super-Heavyweight (108+ kilograms) weight class in 1996, and could not finish in the Super-Heavyweight (105+ kilograms) weight class in 2000. In 1992, he carried the Latvian flag at the opening ceremony, the first person to do so since 1936 when independent Latvia last participated in a Summer Olympiad. In

1997 European Weightlifting Championships The 1997 European Weightlifting Championships were held in Rijeka, Croatia for the men. The women competition were held in Sevilla, Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with t ...

he won silver in the Super-Heavyweight (108+ kilograms) weight class behind

Tibor Stark Tibor Stark (born 14 February 1972 in Tata, Komárom-Esztergom) is a retired male weightlifter from Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slo ...

with a career best performance. Bergmanis had a successful strongman career and was known for his consistency across multiple disciplines, but never managed to win many events outright. He did, however, win the

World Muscle Power Championships The World Muscle Power Classic (WMPC) (sometimes known as the World Muscle Power Championships) was one of the most enduring annual strongman competitions, running for twenty years and in that time attaining the position of the second most prestig ...

in 1997, and followed this up with two 2nd place finishes in 1998 and 1999. He also competed in the Arnold's Strongest Man Contest, his best result coming in the 2003 and 2004 competitions where he placed 3rd on both occasions. He also reached the finals in the

World's Strongest Man The World's Strongest Man is an international strongman competition held every year. Organized by American event management company IMG, a subsidiary of Endeavor, it is broadcast in the US during summers and in the UK around the end of Decemb ...

contest several times, finishing 7th in 1996 and 5th in 1997. He competed in the 2001 contest, but was eliminated in the qualifying heats, before producing arguably the best performance of his entire strongman career in the 2002 WSM contest. In what was a hugely talented field, he found himself in 6th place after the first four events. However, by coming 3rd in the Asia Stone - breaking the old world record in the process - and then winning the last two events of the final - the Deadlift and the Atlas Stones - Bergmanis managed to overhaul a deficit to reigning champion

Svend Karlsen Svend Viking Karlsen (born 6 October 1967) is a Norwegian former strongman, powerlifter, bodybuilder and 2001 World's Strongest Man. Being a winner of the World's Strongest Man, the Europe's Strongest Man, the World Muscle Power Class ...

and held off strong late charges from

Juha-Matti Räsänen Juha-Matti Räsänen (born May 19, 1974) is a strongman competitor from Kuopio, Finland. Juha began training for strongman in 1995, began competing as an amateur in 1996 and turned professional in 2000. Juha competed in the 2001 and 2002 World's ...

and

Johnny Perry Johnny Perry (October 24, 1972 – November 21, 2002) was a professional strongman competitor and professional wrestler from Zebulon, North Carolina, US. Perry finished fourth in the 2002 World's Strongest Man competition. Death A few months aft ...

to finish 3rd overall. He then followed this performance by finishing 4th in 2003 and 2004, although the latter was a result of

Mariusz Pudzianowski Mariusz Zbigniew Pudzianowski (; born 7 February 1977), also known as "Pudzian" and "Dominator", is a Polish people, Polish mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and former Strongman (strength athlete), strongman competitor. With Strongman#In ...

failing a drug test, meaning Bergmanis was promoted from 5th to 4th. He also produced strong showings in several Strongman Superseries events, including setting a new world record of in the log lift at the Strongman Super Series Moscow Grand Prix.

Personal records

Weightlifting

* Snatch – (1997 European Weightlifting Championships) *

Clean and jerk The clean and jerk is a composite of two weightlifting movements, most often performed with a barbell: the clean and the jerk. During the ''clean'', the lifter moves the barbell from the floor to a racked position across the deltoids, without rest ...

– (1997 European Weightlifting Championships) *Total – (1997 European Weightlifting Championships)

Strongman

Deadlift The deadlift is a strength training exercise in which a weight-loaded barbell is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, with the torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting ...

– ''oil filled plates'' (2002 Arnold Strongman Classic) * Log press – (2004 Strongman Super Series Moscow Grand Prix) (former world record) * Apollon's wheels – x 2 power cleans and reps (2002 Arnold Strongman Classic) *Hummer push – for a 12m course in 17.07 seconds (2002 Arnold Strongman Classic) (World Record)

Television career

After the end of his career, Bergmanis worked in Latvian television and presented a number of programs including "Happy Family" and "The Royal Jokes Tournament" and was commentator for the Latvian Strongman Championships. He was elected as a president of the Latvian Olympic club, and had previously been a board member and vice president. In March 2013, he was elected one of the vice presidents of the

Latvian Olympic Committee The Latvian Olympic Committee (, LOK) is a non-profit organization that is the National Olympic Committee for Latvia. Its headquarters are in Riga. History The Committee was created on 23 April 1922. In 1923, it received a notice from the Inter ...

Political career

In 2013 he was elected as one of the vice presidents of the

. He has worked in the

Latvian National Armed Forces The Latvian National Armed Forces (), or NBS, are the armed forces of Latvia. Latvia's defense concept is based on a mobile, professional rapid response force and a reserve segment that can be called upon relatively fast for mobilization should t ...

. Bergmanis is a member of the

Latvian Green Party The Latvian Green Party (, LZP) is a green conservative political party in Latvia. Founded in 1990, the party was a member of the European Green Party from 2003 until its expulsion in 2019. It is positioned in the centre-right of the political s ...

, part of the

Union of Greens and Farmers The Union of Greens and Farmers (, ZZS) is an agrarian political alliance in Latvia. It is made up of the Latvian Farmers' Union, Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party, and For Latvia and Ventspils. It is positioned in the centre on the ...

political alliance A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller political parties, who a ...

. He was elected to the Latvian parliament in 2014. He became minister of defense in 2015 after his predecessor

Raimonds Vējonis Raimonds Vējonis (born 15 June 1966) is a Latvian politician who served as the 9th President of Latvia from 2015 to 2019 and the president of the Latvian Basketball Association since 2020. He is a member of the Latvian Green Party, part of the ...

was elected

President of Latvia The president of Latvia ( ) is head of state and commander-in-chief of the Latvian National Armed Forces, National Armed Forces of the Latvia, Republic of Latvia. The term of this office is four years. Before 1999, it was three years. The presi ...

References

External links

sports-reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergmanis, Raimonds 1966 births Living people People from Pļaviņas Latvian Green Party politicians Ministers of defence of Latvia Deputies of the 12th Saeima Deputies of the 13th Saeima Deputies of the 14th Saeima Latvian strength athletes Latvian male weightlifters Olympic weightlifters for Latvia United List (Latvia) politicians Weightlifters at the 1992 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1996 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 2000 Summer Olympics Riga Technical University alumni Latvian Academy of Sport Education alumni European Weightlifting Championships medalists