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| Born | 15 August 1980 (1980-08-15) (age 45) Kuldīga, Latvia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Jānis Miņins (born 15 August 1980 inKuldīga) is aLatvianbobsledder who has competed since 1999. He won a bronze medal in the four-man event at theFIBT World Championships 2009 inLake Placid, New York, earning the country its first championship medal ever.
In the 2004–05 season his best placing was a sixth place in the 4-man bob inCortina d'Ampezzo andWinterberg, both times withJuris Latiss,Ainārs Podnieks andJānis Ozols. For the 2005–06 season he changed his team mates, retaining Ozols but bringing inMārcis Rullis andIntars Dīcmanis to the four-man bob. However, his team fell to a best place of 10th, and he has had his best placing in the World Cup this season at the World Cup in Igls, with a fourth place together withDaumants Dreiškens. He placed first at the Latvian selection event for the Olympic Games inSigulda, and has been selected to compete at the2006 Winter Olympics where he finished sixth in the two-man event and tenth in the four-man event.
Miņins missed the2010 Winter Olympics, because of anappendix surgery he went through, when he had already arrived inCanada just days before the Olympic start. This prevented him from competing in the two-man event, but attempted to return to the four-man event before finally withdrawing to pain still experienced following his surgery and injuries to other crew members.
He has also won 2008 FIBT European Championship in four-man event atCesana.
Miņins' bestBobsleigh World Cup championship finishes were second place in the four-man events in2008-09 and2009-10.
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| Preceded by | Latvian Men's Sportspersonality of the Year 2009 | Succeeded by |
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