Sanita Pušpure
Rowing
BIOGRAPHY
Sanita Pušpure represented Ireland in the women’s single sculls at the London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
She finished 13th at both London 2012 and Rio 2016, and withdrew from the Tokyo 2020 B final due to illness after finishing fifth in her semi-final. At London 2012 she was Ireland’s only rowing competitor and the country’s first female single sculler at the Olympics since 1980.
Born in Latvia, Pušpure competed for her native country as a junior before retiring from the sport after marriage. She moved to Ireland in 2006 and returned to rowing after a chance encounter – while travelling with her young family, a missed turn brought her past a rowing club on the Liffey, and she resolved to return to the sport. She began competing for Ireland in 2010 and became an Irish citizen in 2011. Between Olympics she established herself as one of the world’s leading scullers, winning back-to-back World Championship titles in 2018 and 2019 and back-to-back European Championship titles in 2019 and 2020.
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