1. Anete Jekabsone - Zogota - the best Latvian basketball player. Plays in one of the best Russian basketball club and formally for the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury. Also she was a member of the Connecticut Sun WNBA team.
2. Zemgus Girgensons - is a Latvian professional ice hockey centre. Currently playing for the Buffalo Sabres of the NHL. Girgensons is the highest-drafted Latvian in NHL history.
3. Ernests Gulbis - professional tennis player. In 2010 he won his first ATP Tour singles title in the Delray Beach. In total, he has six ATP titles. He is the only Latvian tennis player ever to be ranked inside the top 10 in ATP Singles Ranking.
4. Sandis Ozolins - ice hockey player. He was drafted for the NHL in 1991 and during his career in North America, he was a seven-time NHL All Star, Stanley champion and Norris Trophy finalist. He is also the all-time leader for goals, assists, points and games played by a Latvian in the NHL and holds several Colorado Avalanche and San Jose Sharks franchise records.
5. Martins Dukurs - the best skeleton racer who has competed since 1998. He won silver at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and a second silver at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. He has also won three FIBT World Championships and six Skeleton World Cups.
6. Jelena Prokopcuka - a long-distance runner. She is the best marathon runner in Latvia. She participated three times in the Olympic Games (1996, 2000, 2004). Best known for winning the New York City Marathon in 2005 and 2006.
7. Maris Strombergs - professional BMX racer. In the 2008 Summer Olympics he became the first Olympic champion in BMX cycling. Earlier that year he won the 2008 UCI BMX World Championship. In 2012 he saved his Olympic title by winning the gold medal in the London Olympics.
We can be really proud of athletes who holds Latvian name in the World. Of course, there are also artists and musicians, doctors and businessmen who are famous not only in our country but that is another story.
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