Lusis was born in Latvia and represented the Soviet Union during his 15-year career.

He competed in decathlon but reached ultimate success in javelin, first winning the Soviet Union title in 1962. 

Lusis went on to win the European Championships later that year with an event record of 82.04 metres, before ending the season with a world record of 86.04m.

An Olympic Games debut came at Tokyo 1964, where Lusis earned a bronze medal. 

He then successfully retained his European title in 1966, returning to the Olympics in 1968 as favourite for the gold medal.

A throw of 90.10m, an Olympic record, saw Lusis top the podium.

Lusis achieved his third and fourth European titles in 1969 and 1971, becoming the first athlete to triumph four times in the same event. 

Having set a world record of 93.80m in July 1972, he was heavily favoured to retain his title at the Olympics in Munich later that year.

West Germany's Klaus Wolfermann produced an Olympic record of 90.48m, however, with Lusis settling for silver with 90.46m. 

In 1976, at the age of 37, Lusis competed in his fourth Olympic Games in Montreal and finished eighth.

After retiring from competitive athletics, he worked as a coach and official in Latvia.

Lusis received the Lifetime Contribution to Sport award at the 2009 Latvian Sports Personality of the Year ceremony.

His son, Voldermars, was also an international javelin thrower and competed at the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympics. 

World Athletics are among those to pay tribute to "one of the greatest javelin throwers of all time".