Famous Latvian Sportspersons

Kristaps Porzingis is a Latvian basketball player who currently plays professional basketball at the National Basketball Association (NBA) where he represents the Dallas Mavericks. Standing at 7’3, Porziņģis is one of the tallest players active in the NBA. Also an important player for his Latvian national team, Kristaps Porzingis won the Latvian Rising Star of the Year award in 2015.

Mikhail Tal was a Soviet Latvian chess player. Widely regarded as one of the best attacking players and a creative genius, Tal was renowned for his unpredictability and improvisation. He was also known as the magician from Riga for his daring, combinatorial playing style. Since 2006, the Mikhail Tal Memorial has been annually held in Moscow to honor Tal's memory.

Once a lanky kid, Yevgeny Marchenko was inspired by an acrobatic gymnastics program at his school and later pursued the sport as a career option. He later not only became a Soviet national champion, but also a 5-time World champion and a 4-time European champion. He also coached Carly Patterson.

Alexander Petersson is a Latvian-born Icelandic retired handball player who represented the Icelandic men's national team from 2005 to 2021. In 2008, he helped his national team win the silver medal at the Summer Olympics in Beijing. In 2010, Alexander Petersson was part of the team that won the bronze medal at the European Championship in Austria.