Voldemārs Vītols

Voldemārs Vītols was an outstanding distance runner who competed in races from 800 to 10,000 metres, setting multiple records and winning more than a dozen Latvian titles. In 1933 Vītols won his first two national titles with victory in the 1,500 metres and the Swedish relay. He went on to win a further fourteen Latvian titles, winning the 1,500 metres (1934–35, 1937), 5,000 metres (1934–35, 1937–38, 1942), 10,000 metres (1938, 1943), 3,000 metres steeplechase (1936, 1943), 4 x 1,500 metres relay (1942), and another in the Swedish relay (1934).

Despite the multiple titles in his home country Vītols did not have the same results at major international completions. He finished tenth in the 5,000 metres at the 1934 European Championships, followed by seventh in the 3,000 metres at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. In addition to distance running he was an accomplished skier, winning three Latvian cross-country titles (1934, 1938, 1940).

Vītols joined the Army in 1930 as a corporal and later served with the Latvian Legion’s economic unit during World War II. Towards the end of 1945, however, he was arrested and deported to a Gulag camp in Siberia. He returned home in 1957 to live in the northern town of Strenči where he worked in the construction industry.

Personal Best: 3000S – 9:18.6 (1936).