Raimonds Bergmanis

Raimonds Bergmanis, born on 25 July 1966, is a Latvian former strength athlete who competed at the top level in two sports, Olympic weightlifting and strongman, before moving into public life. He represented Latvia in the super-heavyweight weightlifting class at three Olympic Games, in 1992, 1996 and 2000, and carried the Latvian flag at the 1992 opening ceremony, the first time anyone had done so for the country since 1936. In strongman he won the World Muscle Power Championships in 1997 and was a regular World's Strongest Man finalist, reaching third place in 2002. After his sporting career he worked in Latvian television, served as a vice president of the Latvian Olympic Committee and later became a member of parliament and Minister of Defence.