Cincinnati, USA, May 21, 2016 – Aleksandrs Samoilovs is nicknamed the Lion King off court and with less than three months until the start of the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games, he is ready to show that he is on king on it to.
The Latvian will feature at his second Olympic Games after he Ruslans Sorokins played at the London 2012 Olympic Games, but this time he will be paired with Janis Smedins, who four years ago was one of only three Latvian Olympic medallists after he and Martins Plavins won bronze at Horse Guards Parade.
A week after London 2012 finished and after three days being feted around Latvia, Smedins and Plavins went and won their first FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour gold medals at the Stare Jablonki Grand Slam, but at the end of the year they went their separate ways and Samoilovs and Smedins teamed up for 2013.
“When I came together with Janis everybody said we were good individually, but no-one knew how we would be together,” Samoilovs said. “We were really successful in the first two years together and finished first in the World Tour rankings.
“Janis pushes me all the time, so it was very good for me to come together with Janis and I improved a lot. We had good results and for me as a player the partnership allowed me to prove myself.”
The pair didn’t hang around to make their mark and after three gold, four silvers and one bronze in their first season together they won the first of two World Tour titles.
Last year was less successful as Smedins struggled with injury, but they still won two gold, two silver and one bronze and were crowned European champions.
Now they are back to their best, are ranked fourth in the FIVB Olympic Rankings and have already won their first gold of 2016 at the Antalya Open to begin their countdown to Rio 2016.
“Last year Janis was injured and we missed four big tournaments; three Grand Slams and the World Championships,” Samoilovs said. “We thought qualification would be easy, but we had to start from 57th place in the rankings in the middle of the season and it was big pressure again.
“Olympics are always special it is a dream for every athlete in every sport, who dream about winning a gold medal. When I was 10 and at school and they asked what I wanted to do, I said ‘I want to be an Olympic champion,’ and all my class laughed. I met my teacher recently and said you remember that day? Well nothing is impossible now’.
“It is good we had very good results at the end of the season so we can prepare for the Olympics now and be 100%. We will try our best to make our dreams come true.”