Lithuania discus thrower Alekna eyes third gold

By Nerijus Adomaitis

VILNIUS (Reuters) - When Virgilijus Alekna is not acting as a bodyguard to Lithuania's former president, he is training to win a third Olympic discus title in Beijing.

"In Lithuania, most people expect me to win a third gold medal and it would be wrong to say I am going there only to take part. I am going after the highest award," he told Reuters.

The first sporting dream of Alekna, 1.98 meters tall and with a two-meter arm span, was to play basketball, the most popular sport in Lithuania. But he started too late at the sports school he attended in northern Lithuania.

He then tried javelin, which he did not like, before moving to discus.

There were times when he was at a risk of being excluded from the school for not performing well enough and when Lithuania regained its independence in 1990 from the former Soviet Union, sport was not his first priority.

He drew inspiration from discus thrower Romas Ubartas, who won Olympic gold in 1992, the first for independent Lithuania.

"My sportsman's path began when I ended fifth at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996," said the square-jawed Alekna.

At the next Olympics in Sydney, Alekna beat German defending champion Lars Riedel with a throw of 69.30 meters to win his first gold.