Type Silver coin Material Silver 925° Issuance Date 2003 Month February Nominal Value 1 Ls Maximum Mintage 26 000 Quality Proof Weight (g) 31.47 Diameter (mm) 38.61 Graphic design Dainis Pundurs Plaster model Ligita Franckevica-Ulmane Minted Rahapaja Oy (Finland) available: 0

Obverse

The large coat of arms of the Republic of Latvia, with the year 2002 inscribed beneath, is placed in the centre. The inscription LATVIJAS REPUBLIKA, arranged in a semicircle, is above the central motif. The inscription LATS, topped with the numeral 1, are placed beneath the central motif.

Reverse

A motif of wrestling from an ancient Greek relief is featured in the centre. The inscription OLIMPISKAS SPELES ATENAS 2004 (Olympic Games Athens 2004), arranged in a semi-circle, is placed beneath the central motif.

Edge

Two inscriptions LATVIJAS BANKA, separated by rhomb-shaped dots.

In ancient Greece, athletes who had become champions of the Olympic Games donated their own sculptural likenesses to the famous Olympia and the temples of their native town to show gratitude to the gods for the victories bestowed upon them. According to the artistic principles of ancient Greeks, these sculptures were generalized images approaching their ideals of beauty.

The Bank of Latvia dedicates the silver coin, issued in honour of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, to Greco-Roman wrestling. It is a tribute to the place of birth of the Olympic Games, the long history of the Games and one of the oldest types of wrestling that has survived through times past until this day. By constant improvement of wrestling rules, plain fighting has developed into a manly trial of strength, deftness and stamina. The coin is also meant to commemorate the Latvian sportsmen who were once celebrated for their achievements in Greco-Roman wrestling.

The first Latvian athletes to participate in the Olympic Games were Janis Polis (heavyweight) and Aleksandrs Priede (featherweight), who represented a Russian team in Stockholm in 1912. Soon after World War I, however, Rudolfs Ronis won fame for himself and his own country, the independent Republic of Latvia: in the 1921 World Championship in Helsinki he took the second place in the lightweight category.

In the 1924 Paris Olympic Games, Latvians participated in all six weight categories. As Latvian athletes were well known, Latvia was repeatedly asked to organize international championships. Wrestling took place in the Salamonsky Circus ring in Riga, and representatives from more than ten European states used to participate in the event.

In the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, the best results were achieved by Edvins Bietags, who won the Olympic silver medal in welterweight, after having taken the first place in the 1934 European Championship in Rome, and Krisjanis Kundzins (fifth place in featherweight).

The middleweight Janis Kavals (third place in Prague, 1931), heavyweight Alberts Zvejnieks (third place in Rome, 1934, and in Copenhagen, 1935) and middleweight Georgs Ozolins (second place in Oslo, 1939) also ranked among the strongest athletes of Europe.

After World War II, Latvian athletes represented the USSR team. The best results were achieved by Imants Klintsons who became the USSR champion on three occasions (in 1971, 1973 and 1974). Viktors Kuzmins won the silver medal in the Ludwigshafen European Championship in 1975.

Nowadays many other kinds of sport are far more popular in Latvia, as well as in other countries. Is it a temporary trend, prompted by the times? Viktors Kuzmins, senior coach of the Latvian team, hopes to prepare at least someone among the younger Greco-Roman wrestlers who could participate in the Olympic Games.

With the basic motif of an ancient Greek relief, Dainis Pundurs brings back forms and ideas that seemed to be long forgotten. Confidence in human power and the beauty of honest competition has survived until this day and age, and the coin dedicated to the Athens Olympic Games confirms it once again.