Aigars Fadejevs (27 December 1975 – 17 December 2024) was a Latvian athlete, competing in 20 km, 50 km walk, and marathon running, and a physiotherapist for sprinters and other athletes. He won a silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in the 50 km race walk, and was named the Latvian Sportsperson of the Year in 2000.
Biography Aigars Fadejevs was born 27 December 1975 in Valka, Latvia. He was a champion junior race walker, winning the European U23 Championships in 1997.
Fadejevs competed in 1996 Summer Olympics, finishing 6th in the 20 km walk and in the 2000 Summer Olympics, winning the silver medal in 50 km, 2004 Olympics, 50 km 11th, 20 km 9th. He also won a gold medal in the European U23 Championships in 1997, a silver medal in the 1998 European Championships at the 20 km distance, and finished 4th in 50 km at the World Championships in Edmonton in 2001.
Fadejevs holds the unofficial world record of 58:23 in the rare 15 km walk distance.
Fadejevs quit race walking in 2004 and competed as a marathon runner. He almost qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. He worked as a sports therapist, working with Latvian Olympians and international athletes from other disciplines including Kobe Bryant.
In 2017, he revealed in an interview that he had experienced depression and fell into alcoholism at the end of his career, but was working to overcome these challenges.
Fadejevs died suddenly on 17 December 2024, at the age of 48 of unknown causes.
Achievements Representing 1994World Junior ChampionshipsLisbon, Portugal —10,000mDQEuropean ChampionshipsHelsinki, Finland17th20 km1:26.061996Olympic GamesAtlanta, United States6th20 km1:20:471997European U23 ChampionshipsTurku, Finland 1st20 km1:19:581998European Race Walking Cup Dudince, Slovakia 3rd20 km1:20:44European Championships Budapest, Hungary 2nd20 km1:21:252000European Race Walking Cup Eisenhüttenstadt, Germany6th20 km1:20:18Olympic Games Sydney, Australia14th20 km1:22:43 2nd50 km3:43:402001European Race Walking Cup Dudince, Slovakia8th20 km1:20:51World Championships Edmonton, Canada —20 kmDNF2008Valmiera MarathonValmiera, Latvia 1stMarathon2:19:57
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