Māris Štrombergs

Māris Štrombergs (born 10 March 1987) is a Latvian former professional BMX racer. In the 2008 Summer Olympics he became the first Olympic champion in BMX cycling. Earlier that year he won the 2008 UCI BMX World Championships. In 2012 he added to his Olympic title by winning the gold medal in the London Olympics.

Štrombergs was born in Valmiera. His first trainer was Raimonds Ciesnieks. However, the longest collaboration was with Ivo Lakučs. Māris Štrombergs completed the Olympic 2008 BMX in about 36 seconds. Māris completed the Olympic 2012 BMX course in 37.576 seconds. Upon returning from the 2012 Olympics he was greeted by thousands of fans in his hometown Valmiera.

On November 13, 2018 Māris Štrombergs announced his retirement.

Career bicycle motocross titles

Amateur/junior men "2001 The European youth challenge (European Challenge) Champion" "2005 European Junior Champion." National Bicycle League (NBL) None American Bicycle Association (ABA) None Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*

International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)* "1996 (Worlds Challenge Class), World Champion of nine years in boys' group"

Professional/elite men

National Bicycle League (NBL) "2009 Elite Men ("AA") Pro Nat.#1" "2010 Elite Men ("AA") Grand National Champion Nat.#1 Pro" American Bicycle Association (ABA) "2009 Vice-champion" "2014 Pro Nat.#1 Men (AA)" International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)* None (defunct) Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)* None (defunct. FIAC did not have a strictly professional division during its existence). Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)* "2008 Elite Men Gold Medal World Champion" "2010 Elite Men Gold Medal World Champion" "2011 Elite Men Silver Medal World Champion"