Olympics latest: Latvian athlete placed 10th

  • 2014-02-10
  • From wire reports, RIGA

Latvia's Martins Rubenis placed tenth in men's luge at the Sochi Winter Olympics on Sunday.

On aggregate, Rubenis lost 2.171 seconds to gold medal winner Felix Loch (Germany). Inars Kivlenieks finished in 16th place and Kristaps Maurins in 21st place.

Russia's Albert Demchenko took silver and Armin Zoggeler bronze. Later in the evening, Rubenis said this was his last season in professional sports.

"I thank all those who have been together with me through all these year, who supported me and rejoiced at my achievements, and did not despair when I was not at my best," said Rubenis.

He said that he was yet to compete in team relay at the Sochi Olympics, adding that he was not very pleased at his performance in singles competition. Nevertheless, he also said that he had been working very hard the past two years.

Rubenis, 35, is the first Latvian athlete to win a medal at Winter Olympic Games after the restoration of Latvia's independence. In 2006, he won bronze at the Turin Olympics.