11.07.2012

Latvijas Pasts commences new sports-themed stamp series with Javelin Throw

With the release of the stamp Javelin Throw, Latvijas Pasts is beginning a new stamp series dedicated to sports, in anticipation of the Games of the XXX Olympiad that will take place from July 27 to August 12 in London. The first-day cancellation event for the new stamp will take place on Saturday, July 14, from 9 AM to 3 PM in post office Sakta, Riga, 32 Brīvības Boulevard.

The stamp was designed by the artist Ludis Danilāns, and its print run is 30,000. The denomination of the new stamp is LVL 0.60, making it suitable for mailing a regular letter to any country in the world outside the European Union. The stamp shows a woman pulling back to throw a javelin. The release is accompanied by a first-day cover in the Olympic colors and a special cancellation depicting the javelin thrower.

The javelin has been known to man since ancient times; javelin throw competitions have been described in Homer's epic Iliad. The origins of modern throw techniques reach back to the German physical education system in 1886. The first javelin throw competition in Riga was held in 1905, in the field of the German sports association Kaiserwald.

The first Olympic champion in Latvian sports history was the javelin thrower Inese Jaunzeme, who made a throw of 53.86 meters at the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne, winning the gold medal. Another Latvian athlete, Elvīra Ozoliņa, won the gold medal in javelin throw at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. The first Latvian athlete to reach 80 and 90 meters in javelin throw was Jānis Lūsis. He is the only athlete from Latvia to have participated in four Olympic Games, and he won the gold medal in 1968 in Mexico City with a new Olympic record - 90.10 m. A throw of 91.20 meters was made by Dainis Kūla at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, making him the Olympic champion.

In recent history, a silver medal was won at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens by the Latvian javelin throwerVadims Vasiļevskis. Vasiļevskis achieved his personal best of 90.73 m in 2007 in Estonia, ranking him 10^th among the best javelin throwers of all time.

The 2012 Summer Olympics will take place from July 27 to August 12 in London, with participation of the Latvian javelin throwers Vadims Vasiļevskis, Ainārs Kovals, Zigismunds Sirmais, Madara Palameika, Sinta Ozoliņa-Kovala and Līna Mūze.

See the new stamp Javelin Throw.

The next new philatelic release is scheduled for August 9.

About SJSC Latvijas Pasts

Latvijas Pasts ensures the widest availability of postal services throughout Latvia by maintaining more than 600 post offices. The primary function of the company is provision of the universal postal service; Latvijas Pasts also provides commercial transport, express mail, payment, press subscription, retail and philatelic services. Latvijas Pasts is a fully state-owned company with more than 4,500 employees.

Additional information
Zane Plone
SJSC Latvijas Pasts
Public Relations Specialist
Phone: +371 67608504
E-mail:zane.plone@pasts.lv