About Me...
Hey, I'm Kurts!
I'm a professional athlete, content creator, and speaker... but that's about as far as from where I started. Before you read any further, if this doesn't convince you that anyone can achieve anything, I don't know what will.
Those three things that I mentioned above may seem very far apart from one another, but they are all tied together by one thing - my goal.
But let's go back a little...
Originally from Latvia, I moved to Great Britain when I was 8 years old, not speaking a word of English together with my single mum (who moved 2 years earlier) and brother, due to our dad leaving us and coupled with extremely poor economic times meant we eventually had no money to have a roof over our heads. This was a very stressful situation to be going through at such a young age. Living on the edge meant fear and anxiety were introduced to me early in life. But honestly, now that I look back, I wouldn't change a thing because those are the times that truly made me who I am today.
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kurts in latvia
my mission
I still remember very vividly the day I first arrived in the UK with nothing. We literally had nothing, but I was getting off the plane, looking around and thinking - "This is it. This is the country of opportunity. I can achieve anything." I remember saying to myself - "This is your one chance."
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schoolboy
Not speaking the language, the first few years were very hard, especially in primary school. The social part was tough, but it was more the fact that I needed extra support to complete my work. I hated the idea that I was struggling more than anyone else. I simply wanted to be the best. Regardless of the how, what and why... I just wanted to be the best in whatever I did no matter the cost. The context didn't matter to me. I'm not sure where that extreme need to be the best came from for me... anger, fear, growing up with nothing, low self-esteem? I don't know. Maybe a mix of all those things.
Fast forward to just before starting high school, I was lying in bed one night struggling to fall asleep. I had so much frustration and anger built up that I wasn't excelling at anything. I had learned English by now and progressed a lot in my schoolwork. But I wasn't satisfied. And that night an idea popped into my mind:
And that thought combined with seeing how hard my mum worked to make ends meet has fueled me to this day, and it's the mindset that has got me to where I am today.
What if I work hard to be the
best at school?
do whatever it takes
every subject
That was all the proof I needed. But that was only the beginning...
Fast forward to the end of my first year in high school, I was in top sets for some subjects.
The day that really changed my life was when me and my brother attended a random scuba diving lesson over the half-term holidays. Yes, seriously. There were only two other kids there, and they happened to be from the local canoe club in Stone. Long story short, we were invited to try canoe slalom. I always loved sports. I loved any kind of sports. Unfortunately in Latvia, we struggled with food and rent, let alone having the money to pursue my ultimate dream of becoming a professional athlete.
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where it all started
So, this was it. I saw this as the one opportunity to turn my dreams into reality.
As you can imagine, we still had extreme financial struggles in the UK, but I somehow convinced my mum to let me try it for a year. It's was rough, but this was my dream and I was willing to do whatever it takes to make it work. Fast forward to today, I'm a VICE WORLD CHAMPION and EUROPEAN TEAMS CHAMPION, not to mention many other athletic accomplishments.
The last thing that I want is to sound cocky, but I'm very proud of myself. Coming from literally nothing, to achieving my dream of becoming a professional athlete.
What I want people to take away from this, is that anything is possible as long as you are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve your goals.
It has been a very tough journey for me and my family to get me to where I am. That is why I want to share my story and the lessons that I've learned along the way in hopes of motivating people to chase whatever that is that they want... because if I could do it, anybody can.