Background
Alekna, Virgilijus was born on February 13, 1972 in Terpeikiai, Lithuania.
Alekna, Virgilijus was born on February 13, 1972 in Terpeikiai, Lithuania.
His personal record is 73.88 meters (242 ft 4½ in), surpassed only by the world record (7408 m). Alekna was awarded the title of the Athlete of the Year for 2000 by Track and Field News. He became the Lithuanian Sportsman of the Year 4 times (2000, 2004, 2005, and 2006).
Since 1995 Alekna has served as a bodyguard of the Lithuanian Prime Minister.
At a height of 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in), Alekna has an unusually long armspan, measured 2.22m (7 ft 35 in), which is helpful in discus throwing. He can make fingerprints on windows of two opposite sides of a bus simultaneously.
During the 2007 World Championship Virgilijus Alekna competed with an injury. Having sustained the injury on 20 August, he competed in the World Championship"s qualification on 28 August and, as a result, suffered a defeat, which broke his 37 victories in a row over the past two years.