On 8 January, President of Latvia Egils Levits attended the 2021 Three Stars Award ceremony where he presented the Sports Lifetime Achievement Award to the legendary wrestling coach Visvaldis Freidenfelds.
‘You dedicated your life to combat sports. You personally stood behind many of the greatest victories our fighters have achieved and helped raising the profile of combat sports to unprecedented levels. One can only admire your perseverance, dedication and passion with which you developed the youth academy and boarding school. Mr Freidenfelds, thank you very much! Best of luck in your future undertakings and raising the next generation of fighters,’ President of Latvia said as he congratulated Visvaldis Freidenfelds.
In his address to participants and viewers of the 2021 Three Stars Award ceremony, President Levits emphasised that 2021 has been a good year for Latvian sports internationally, with many notable victories at the Tokyo Olympics and other international competitions and tournaments held at the national level. ‘Latvian people feal really proud about our athletes,’ President of Latvia said.
Promotion of combat sports has been the lifetime goal of Visvaldis Freidenfelds. Mr Freidenfelds holds several national wrestling titles and has been a top-level professional wrestler. After graduating from Latvian National Physical Education Academy (LNPEA), Mr Freidenfelds became a senior professor at the LNPEA Heavy Athletics Department. He joined the coaching staff of Vārpa Athletic Club in 1980 and later became the general manager of the national team. He has coached numerous high-class male and female fighters. He founded his own club, the Visvaldis Freidenfelds’ Wrestling Academy and Boarding School, in 1995 and began coaching young athletes from all over the country. He personally financed the construction and delivery of new athletic youth boarding school with 13 rooms, canteen, sauna and modern combat sports hall finished on 20 August 2018.
His notable contribution to the state of Latvia has been recognised with a Class 1 Cross of Recognition Gold Bow (awarded in 2013) and Visvaldis Freidenfelds became the Chevalier of the Order of the Three Stars in 2019 for special service to the state of Latvia.