# Latvia at the 2016 Summer Paralympics

Latvia competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. They won four medals; two gold and two bronze. It was their most successful paralympic games to date.

## Disability classifications

Every participant at the Paralympics has their disability grouped into one of five disability categories; amputation, the condition may be congenital or sustained through injury or illness; cerebral palsy; wheelchair athletes, there is often overlap between this and other categories; visual impairment, including blindness; Les autres, any physical disability that does not fall strictly under one of the other categories, for example dwarfism or multiple sclerosis. Each Paralympic sport then has its own classifications, dependent upon the specific physical demands of competition. Events are given a code, made of numbers and letters, describing the type of event and classification of the athletes competing. Some sports, such as athletics, divide athletes by both the category and severity of their disabilities, other sports, for example swimming, group competitors from different categories together, the only separation being based on the severity of the disability.

## Medallists

| Medal | Name | Sport | Event | Date |
| Gold | Aigars Apinis | Athletics | Men's discus throw F51/52 | 8 September |
| Gold | Diāna Dadzīte | Athletics | Women's javelin throw F515/56 | 10 September |
| Bronze | Edgars Bergs | Athletics | Men's shot put F35 | 12 September |
| Bronze | Diāna Dadzīte | Athletics | Women's discus throw F55 | 17 September |
Medals by sport :
| Sport | | | | Total |
| Athletics | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Total | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |

## Archery

Latvia qualified one archer for the Rio Games following their performance at the 2015 World Archery Para Championships. Ieve Melle earned the spot in the women's recurve open after defeating Czech archer Marketa Sidkova in straight sets.
| Athlete | Event | Ranking round | Ranking round | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals |
| Athlete | Event | Score | Seed | Opposition score | Opposition score | Opposition score | Opposition score | Opposition score | Rank |
| Gints Jonasts | Men's individual recurve open | 541 | 32 | Ranjbarkivaj (IRI) L 2–6 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | 17 |
| Ieva Melle | Women's individual recurve open | 592 | 12 | Lee (TPE) W 6–5 | Silva Carvalho (BRA) W 6–4 | Olszewska (POL) L 0–6 | did not advance | did not advance | 8 |
| Gints Jonasts Ieva Melle | Mixed team recurve open | 1133 | 13 | Bye | Airoldi / Mijno (ITA) L 0–6 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | 9 |

## Athletics

| Athlete | Event | Heat | Heat | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Result | Rank | Result | Rank |
| Aigars Apinis | Men's discus throw F52 | — | — | 20.83 | |
| Edgars Bergs | Men's shot put F35 | — | — | 14.55 | |
| Diāna Dadzīte | Women's discus throw F55 | — | — | 22.66 | |
| Diāna Dadzīte | Women's javelin throw F56 | — | — | 23.26 | |
| Taiga Kantāne | Women's discus throw F38 | — | — | 23.53 | 11 |
| Taiga Kantāne | Women's shot put F37 | — | — | 8.78 | 7 |

## Equestrian

The country earned an individual slot via the Para Equestrian Individual Ranking List Allocation method.
| Athlete | Horse | Event | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Horse | Event | Result | Rank |
| Rihards Snikus | King of the Dance | Individual Championship test grade Ia | 73.174 | 6 |
| Rihards Snikus | King of the Dance | Individual Freestyle test grade Ia | 72.900 | 5 |

## Rowing

| Athlete(s) | Event | Heats | Heats | Repechage | Repechage | Final | Final |
| Athlete(s) | Event | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank |
| Eduards Pupelis Žanna Cvečkovska | Mixed double sculls | 4:36.95 | 6 R | 4:41.33 | 5 FB | 4:32.39 | 11 |
Eduards Pupels Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); R=Repechage

## Swimming
### Men

| Athlete | Event | Heat | Heat | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Result | Rank | Result | Rank |
| Jānis Plotnieks | 100 m backstroke S10 | 1:07.96 | 11 | did not advance | did not advance |

## Wheelchair fencing
### Women

| Athlete | Event | Group stage | Group stage | Group stage | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Opposition | Result | Rank | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Rank |
| Polina Rožkova | Individual épée A | Yevheniia Breus (UKR) | L 2–5 | 6 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | |
| Polina Rožkova | Individual épée A | Yu Chui Yee (HKG) | W 5–2 | 6 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | |
| Polina Rožkova | Individual épée A | Marta Fidrych (POL) | L 3–5 | 6 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | |
| Polina Rožkova | Individual épée A | Veres Amarilla (HUN) | L 1–5 | 6 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | |
| Polina Rožkova | Individual épée A | Bian Jing (CHN) | L 1–5 | 6 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | |

## In popular culture

On 15 November 2016 Latvijas Pasts issued three different postage stamps to commemorate the three Latvian medal winners of the 2016 Paralympics, which makes it the first time in Latvian history that paralympics are commemorated with a postage stamp issue.