Baltic Olympics update: Aug. 4

Estonia

Estonian minister of culture to fly to Brazil for opening ceremony of Rio Games

Estonian Minister of Culture Indrek Saar departed for Brazil today to attend the opening ceremony of the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro on Friday, Aug. 5.

Saar is the only member of the government to visit Rio for the Olympic Games. He is expected to leave Brazil on Aug. 13.

The Estonian Olympic delegation is comprised of 47 athletes in 13 different events and 44 support personnel. The Rio Games will be the first Olympics for 25 athletes. The oldest member of the delegation is discus thrower Gerd Kanter, age 37, and the youngest is 20-year-old 49erFX sailor Anna Maria Sepp. The event with the greatest Estonian representation is track and field with 18 athletes.

Sailor Karl-Martin Rammo to carry Estonian flag in Olympic opening ceremony

Sailor Karl-Martin Rammo has been selected to carry the Estonian flag in the opening ceremony of the Olympics on Aug. 5, the sports portal of the public broadcaster ERR announced on Wednesday.

"This is a great honour to me," Rammo revealed. "One becomes an Olympic champion himself, through hard work. The honour of carrying the flag is entrusted to an athlete by other people and I'm very touched that I earned this trust."

"The Estonian flag has always been carried in the opening ceremony by great athletes, and joining that list will certainly give more confidence and faith ahead of the Games," Rammo said.

 

Latvia

DefMin to leave for Brazil to represent Latvian govt at Rio 2016 Olympics

Defense Minister Raimonds Bergmanis (Greens/Farmers), a former Olympic athlete himself, has departed for Brazil today to represent the Latvian government at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, the minister's spokeswoman Liga Krapane reported. 

Bergmanis will observe the Games, including the opening ceremony and other events, from Aug. 4 to 11. 

"I am honoured by the opportunity to be with our athletes at these Olympic Games. I know from my own experience how significant support and encouragement can be, especially when competing under the flag of your country very far from Latvia. I hope that in Rio de Janeiro I will be able to instill more optimism and confidence in the athletes that we can return home with medals. Latvia has proven this on several occasions already," the minister remarked. 

Bergmanis, a former weightlifter, carried the Latvian flag at the opening ceremony of the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona. He participated in three Olympic Games, in 1992, 1996, and 2000.

Latvia will participate in the international sporting event this year with a team of 33 athletes.  

 

Lithuania

Lithuania's PM to skip Olympics due to unacceptable flight fares

Lithuania's Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius will not attend the Olympic Games due to unbelievable airline ticket prices, the government's press service reported today.

"Even when we started planning the visit to Brazil six months ago and tried to find the cheapest tickets in accordance to the Public Procurement Law, the fares seemed rather exaggerated. After learning the price for the whole delegation, the prime minister said he could not approve of the spending and refuses to go to Rio de Janeiro," Butkevicius' spokeswoman Evelina Butkute-Lazdauskiene disclosed in a comment to BNS.

According to Butkute-Lazdauskiene, offers were received from three agencies, and the lowest airline fare for four members of the delegation was 44,000 euros.

Without public procurement, prices on ticket or airline websites are several times lower, stated the spokeswoman.

President Grybauskaite off to Rio to support Lithuanian Olympians

President Dalia Grybauskaite departed for Brazil today to support the nation’s participants in the Olympic Games. Grybauskaite will observe the opening ceremony in the legendary Maracana Stadium, and watch the performance of swimmers Giedrius Titenis and Ruta Meilutyte, as well as the match between the Lithuanian and Brazilian men's basketball teams.

The press service of Parliamentary Speaker Loreta Grauziniene relayed today that she would not travel to Rio; rather, she planned to remain in Lithuania to work as the president is out of the country and the prime minister is on holiday.

The Lithuanian delegation in the Rio Olympics consists of 67 athletes.