Fokerots and Auziņš clinch fifth youth gold at U22 European Championship
Latvian beach volleyball players Kristians Fokerots and Gustavs Auziņš won the European U22 Championship in Madrid, completing a full sweep of gold medals across all youth age categories. It was their last chance for this particular title, as they age out of the U22 category next year.
Latvian beach volleyball duo Kristians Fokerots and Gustavs Auziņš won gold at the European U22 Championship in Madrid last week, completing an impressive run of titles across every youth age group. Fokerots, 21, admitted the pair felt an internal obligation to achieve this win, since next season they will no longer be eligible to compete in the U22 category.
The path to a full collection
The pair became European U18 champions in Greece in 2022, and two weeks later took world U19 gold in Turkey. Fokerots said the idea of winning every youth-level tournament took hold around that time — a feat previously achieved, as far as he knew, only by Swedish Olympic champions Dāvid Öhman and Jonatan Hellvig, though they lack a world U19 title since they never competed at that level. In 2024 the Latvians won the European U20 Championship in Poland, added the world U21 title in Mexico last autumn, and this autumn in Madrid completed the series with the European U22 title.
Favorites who faced tough opposition
Fokerots and Auziņš entered Madrid as the tournament's top favorites and lived up to that status, not dropping a single set. Still, both the player and coach Mārtiņš Pļaviņš said the self-imposed pressure to win made the tournament harder than it appeared from outside. In the semifinal, the Latvians beat Norwegians Even Oss and Sebastian Kjemperud 2-0, while in the final they defeated Lithuanians Povilas Piešina and Dovydas Sinkevičius 2-0 in two tight sets, with the Lithuanian pair's 210-centimeter-tall player causing particular trouble.
What's next
After Madrid, Auziņš headed straight to the Universiade in Portugal, while Fokerots and coach Pļaviņš endured a nearly 12-hour journey home due to flight logistics issues. The duo's season will wrap up with the low-pressure "King of the Court" tournament in Utrecht, Netherlands, followed by a period of gym-based conditioning. Olympic qualification begins at year's end, on the road toward the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
