Ivan Klementjev ' onMouseout='HidePop("61620")' href="/topics/Riga">Riga

Riga

Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...

) is a Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

-born Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

n politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 and former sprint canoer

Canoe racing

This article discusses canoe sprint and canoe marathon, competitive forms of canoeing and kayaking on more or less flat water. Both sports are governed by the International Canoe Federation ....

 who competed from the mid 1980s to the late 1990s. He won three Olympic medals in C-1

Sprint canoe

A sprint canoe is a special type of canoe used in the sport of flatwater canoe racing.A one-person sprint canoe is 5.20 metres long; a traveling canoe of a similar length would be suitable for 2 to 3 people with gear...

 1000 m at the 1988

1988 Summer Olympics

The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an all international multi-sport events celebrated from September 17 to October 2, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia and the first since the 1964 Summer Olympics...

, 1992

1992 Summer Olympics

The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...

 and 1996 Summer Olympics

1996 Summer Olympics

The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....

. The highlight was the gold medal in 1988, which he won as a competitor for the USSR. He trained at Trudovye Rezervy

Trudovye Rezervy

Trudovye Rezervy — voluntary sport society of students of professional-technical schools in the USSR and later in post-Soviet countries.Founded on June 19th, 1943 as an all-union voluntary sport society and operated by the trade unions. In 1975 5,538 physical culture collectives by the educational...

 and later at the Armed Forces sports society

Armed Forces (sports society)

Central Sports Klub of the Army or is the Russian sports society and the successor of the Soviet CSKA.-Overview:The society was one of the largest sports societies in the USSR. In the Soviet era all CSKA and SKA teams that resided in the Soviet Union belonged to the Armed Forces sports society...

 in Riga

Riga

Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...

 when Latvia was part of the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

.

He also won a total of twelve C-1 medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships with seven golds (C-1 1000 m: 1985

1985 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships

The 1985 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships were held in Mechelen, Belgium.The men's competition consisted of six Canadian and nine kayak events. Three events were held for the women, all in kayak....

, 1989

1989 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships

The 1989 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships were held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.The men's competition consisted of eight Canadian and nine kayak events. Five events were held for the women, all in kayak...

, 1990

1990 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships

The 1990 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships were held in Poznań, Poland on Lake Malta.The men's competition consisted of eight Canadian and nine kayak events. Five events were held for the women, all in kayak....

, 1991

1991 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships

The 1991 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships were held in Paris, France.The men's competition consisted of eight Canadian and nine kayak events. Five events were held for the women, all in kayak...

, 1993

1993 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships

The 1993 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships were held in Copenhagen, Denmark for the third time. The Danish city had hosted the event previously in 1950 and 1970....

, 1994

1994 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships

The 1994 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships were held in Mexico City, Mexico for the second time at neighboring Xochimilco. The Mexican city had hosted the event previously in 1974 at the same venue that hosted the canoeing and rowing competitions for the 1968 Summer Olympics.The men's...

; C-1 10000 m: 1989), two silvers (C-1 1000 m: 1986

1986 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships

The 1986 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships were held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada at the Île Notre-Dame. This is also where the canoeing and rowing competitions for the 1976 Summer Olympics took place....

, C-1 10000 m: 1991), and three bronzes (C-1 1000 m: 1987

1987 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships

The 1987 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships were held in Duisburg, West Germany for the second time. The West German city hosted the championships previously in 1979....

, 1995

1995 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships

The 1995 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships were held in Duisburg, Germany for the third time. The German city had hosted the event previously in 1979 and 1987 when it was part of West Germany....

; C-1 10000 m: 1990). Klementjev's only non C-1 world championship medal was a silver in the C-2 500 m event in 1983

1983 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships

The 1983 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships were held in Tampere, Finland for the second time. The Finnish city had host the championships previously in 1973.The men's competition consisted of six Canadian and nine kayak events...

.

After retiring from canoeing, Klementijevs entered politics and was a Riga city councillor for the TSP

National Harmony Party

The National Harmony Party was a political party in Latvia.The party identified itself as a social-democratic party. It supported further liberalisation of the citizenship law by granting citizenship to each non-citizen who had lived in Latvia for at least 10 years...

in 2001—2005, then MP (since 2006).