Laura Asadauskaitė
Laura Asadauskaitė-Zadneprovskienė is a Lithuanian modern pentathlete. She is a two-time Olympic medallist, having won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London with an Olympic record score, as well as winning the silver in Tokyo at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She is a three-time European Champion and a World Champion in pentathlon, having claimed the title in 2013. She has been a member of the Seimas since 2024.
Career
Asadauskaitė took part in her first Olympics at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where she finished 15th overall. Asadauskaitė did not compete at all in 2010 after she became a mother for the first time, but became world number one in the modern pentathlon in May 2012. She won Olympic gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics, ahead of British athlete Samantha Murray and Yane Marques of Brazil. Her total score in the event of 5,408 points set a new Olympic record.Asadauskaitė became world champion for the first time in 2013, winning the gold medal at the 2013 World Modern Pentathlon Championships, with a total of 5,312 points. In 2016, Asadauskaitė won her third gold medal at the European Modern Pentathlon Championships, having previously won it in 2012 and 2015.
In 2021, Asadauskaitė won Lithuania's first medal of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, with a silver medal behind British competitor Kate French. In the five-discipline event, she set an Olympic record of 12 minutes, 1.01 seconds in the final running event.
Political career
In 2024, Laura Asadauskaitė-Zadneprovskienė was elected to the Seimas, the Lithuanian Parliament, representing the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania.She serves on the Committee on Education and Science, focusing her efforts on promoting youth sports, physical education, public health, and athlete welfare.