Latvia

Sandris Linbergs, javelin world champion at Toruń, gets 4-year suspension for doping

Last March, Latvian athletes won 11 gold medals at Toruń indoors worlds in Poland, including an M35 thrower (nearing 39) named Sandris Linbergs. In 2018, he was listed on the World Athletics (formerly IAAF) site as the 1040th best discus thrower in the world. At Torun, however, he tested positive for “a prohibited substance, its metabolites or markers.” And this week World Masters Athletics announced he was given a four-year suspension through March 23, 2023. “As the result of this suspension, there will be a reallocation of the results shot put M35 and the results and medal places in the…


Latvia’s Valdis Cela crushes M70 decathlon WR with stunning 8142

Valdis Cela is not a masters household name. Perhaps he should be after becoming the first M70 to break 8000 points in the decathlon. On Saturday and Sunday, the Latvian competed in the sixth annual Stendaler Hanse-Cup in Stendal, Germany. His 8142 (corrected from earlier 8143) blew away the listed mark of 7940 by German legend Rolf Geese, also at Stendal, in 2016. (See meet results.) A German masters blog notes that Valdis got pacing help in the 1500-meter run by Timo Ritte — son-in-law of vault god Wolfgang Ritte, who also took part in the weekend dec. (M65 Wolfgang…