Latvijas Pasts dedicates a stamp to the outstanding Latvian track and field athlete Jānis Daliņš
22.10.2020
Latvijas Pasts releases a new postage stamp and a cover in honour of Jānis Daliņš (1904–1978), one of the greatest Latvian track and field athletes – the first winner of an Olympic medal in Latvia and the first European champion in race walking. The first day cancellation of the stamp is scheduled to take place at Valmiera Integrated Library, 4 Cēsu Street, Valmiera, from 12 PM to 4 PM on the 23rd of October 2020.
The stamp dedicated to J. Daliņš has a print run of 100,000 copies, while the print run of the special cover is 1,000 copies. The face value of the stamp is € 1.00, which corresponds to the postage of letter-post items in the weight class up to 20 grams within Latvia. The new philatelic releases have been designed in cooperation with Valmiera City Council.
The visual design of the stamp is based on a photo from the archives of Valmiera Museum, while the cover features the stadium in Valmiera named after the race walker J. Daliņš.
J. Daliņš is a remarkable Latvian sports performer: he is one of the most outstanding Latvian track and field athletes of all time. During his professional career J. Daliņš won a vast number of race walking competitions in Latvia and worldwide. In 1932 the X Olympic Games were held in Los Angeles, the U.S., in which the famous athlete earned a silver medal in a 50 km race walk event, securing the first Olympic medal in the history of Latvian sports.
In 1934, when participating in the first European Athletics Championships in Turin, Italy, he won a gold medal in a 50 km race walk and became the first European champion in walking. The athlete was awarded the Order of Three Stars for outstanding achievements.
The athlete’s fame was also reflected in popular culture: the song Ak, kaut man Daliņa kājas būtu (Oh, if only I had Dalinš' legs) created by the singer Jānis Āre was widely sung in the 1930s and included in the very first record released by Riga radio.
The stamp and the cover Jānis Daliņš will first be available for purchase in Riga post office No. 10 at 14/43 Elizabetes Street, Riga post office No. 50 in the shopping centre
Origo at 2 Stacijas laukums, post centre
Sakta at 32 Brīvības bulvāris, Riga, as well as in the e-shop of
Latvijas Pasts https://veikals.pasts.lv/.
The new stamp and the cover Jānis Daliņš can be viewed
here.
The next philatelic release is scheduled for the 19th of November.
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 wholly State-owned company with about 3,200 employees. The quality measurements of Latvijas Pasts domestic mail deliveries are regularly conducted by Kantar TNS, one of the leading market, social and media research agencies in Latvia. In turn, the quality measurements of the cross-border deliveries are provided within the framework of the International Post Corporation through the intermediary of the research companies Kantar TNS, Ipsos and Quotas.
Additional information:
Vineta Danielsone | Senior Public Relations Project Manager
