Jekabs Vilsons was a multiple Latvian cycling champion and record holder. Active in the 1930s, Vilsons was named as an alternate for the road race at the 1936 Berlin Olympics but did not start. He won his last national title in 1939 before his career was cut short by the outbreak of war. He later spent several years in a prisoner-of-war camp before finally being released and returning to Rīga. Vilsons eventually found work at the Dinamo Rīga football stadium where he helped convert the field into an ice rink in the winter. The hard work in freezing conditions resulted in him being admitted to the hospital, where he met his future wife. Despite the hardships he suffered, Vilsons was 94-years-old when he died in December 2007.
Latvia