Women’s beach volleyball world champions Tīna Graudina & Anastasija Samoilova, U21 men’s beach volleyball world champion coach Martins Plavins and volleyball coach and functionary Andris Klavins were honored among the 2025 laureates of Latvia’s prestigious Three Stars Awards, organized by the Latvian Olympic Committee in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Latvia. The Latvian volleyball community was prominently represented among the nominees as well, highlighting the sports’ steady development and outstanding achievements at both national and international levels.
The Three Stars Award is one of the most prestigious and significant annual honors in Latvian sports. Its aim is to identify, recognize, and celebrate the most outstanding athletes, coaches, teams and sports personalities across the country. The awards are presented in multiple categories, and the winners are determined by combining jury evaluations, expert and journalist votes, and public voting, making this recognition both professionally credible and widely supported by fans. This year’s official awards ceremony took place in Riga on Wednesday.
Tīna Graudina & Anastasija Samoilova received the Small Team of the Year award. In 2025, they made history by winning FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship gold, Latvia’s first ever World Championship medal in either gender. The pair also won two silver medals at Beach Pro Tour 2025 Elite events. During the year, they reached as high as second place in the FIVB World Ranking, and in December they were honored as 2025 Volleyball World Women’s Beach Volleyball Team of the Year.
Martins Plavins took the Youth Coach of the Year award. While still an active player of the highest caliber, he also established himself as one of Latvia’s most outstanding youth coaches. Under his guidance, Kristians Fokerots & Gustavs Auzins won gold medals at the FIVB U21 Men’s Beach Volleyball World Championship, repeating a Latvian achievement last accomplished 20 years ago by Plavins himself as a player in a partnership with Aleksandrs Samoilovs. Although Plavins began his coaching career relatively recently, he has quickly proven himself as a dedicated, goal-oriented and inspiring professional. The award was presented to Plavins by Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics.
Andris Vitauts Klavins was honored with the Lifetime Contribution to Sports award. Klavins is one of the most influential figures in the history of Latvian women’s volleyball. A coach, an educator and a journalist, he has devoted more than six decades to the development of volleyball, educating generations of athletes and shaping the women’s volleyball system in Latvia. Despite his respectable age, he continues to work actively with U19 teams at the Riga Volleyball School. The award was presented to Klavins by Latvian Olympic Committee Honorary President Vilnis Baltins.
Among the other volleyball and beach volleyball representatives, who were also nominated for Three Stars awards were the Latvian women’s national volleyball team for Team of the Year / Professional Sports Club, beach volleyball duos Kristians Fokerots & Gustavs Auzins and Martins Plavins & Kristians Fokerots for Small Team of the Year, volleyballer Marta Kamelija Levinska for Female Athlete of the Year, Kristians Fokerots for Male Athlete of the Year and Gustavs Auzins for Rising Star of the Year.
