Jānis Dikmanis

Jānis Dikmanis was a top cyclist in his native Latvia and is considered the father of modern sport in his nation. He organized the first marathon in Rīga in 1904 and by 1908 gave up competitive cycling to focus on sports administration. Dikmanis founded the Latvian Athletic Society in 1909 and became its President in 1922. He was Deputy Chairman of the Latvian Sporting Society from 1921-28, succeeding to the Chair, and holding that until 1944. In April 1922 Dikmanis founded the Latvian Olympic Committee and served as its President until 1933.

Dikmanis spent World War I as a refugee in Russia and was a prisoner of the Soviets during World War II. He was released in 1944 and emigrated to America, where he lived out his life in New York. In 1948 Dikmanis formed a Latvian Olympic Committee in exile, but this did not do much. Dikmanis was made an IOC Member in May 1926 and served until he resigned in March 1947.