Education
Riga Technical University.
Riga Technical University.
He is a former Olympic weightlifter and retired strongman competitor. Bergmanis reached the finals in the World"s Strongest Manitoba contest several times, finishing 3rd in 2002, and 4th in 2003 and 2004. He also competed in the 2001 contest, but was eliminated in the qualifying heats.
Bergmanis was part of the Latvian Olympic Weightlifting team, and has set 21 Latvian records.
He is a three-time Olympian (1992, 1996 and 2000). In 1992 he carried the Latvian flag at the opening ceremony, the first person to do so since 1936 when independent Latvia last participated at a Summer Olympics.
After the end of his career, Bergmanis worked in Latvian television and presented a number of programs including "Happy Family" and "The Royal jokes tournament" and was commentator for the Latvian Strongman Championships. He was elected as a president of the Latvian Olympic club, and had previously been a board member and vice president
In March 2013, he was elected one of the vice presidents of the Latvian Olympic Committee.
In 2013 he was elected as one of the vice presidents of the Latvian Olympic Committee. He has worked in the Latvian National Armed Forces. He was elected to the Latvian parliament in 2014.
He became minister of defense in 2015 after his predecessor Raimonds Vējonis was elected President of Latvia.
Bergmanis is a member of the Latvian Green Party, part of the Union of Greens and Farmers political alliance.