[1] Alekna has won two gold medals in the Summer Olympics in the discus throw, the first was in 2000 and the second in 2004.

He was also awarded the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas by the government of Lithuania.

He is married to former long jumper Kristina Sablovskytė-Aleknienė and has two sons named Martynas and Mykolas, also discus throwers.

[7][8] In May 2016, Alekna announced he would participate in the elections to the Seimas the following October on the electoral list of the opposition Liberal Movement, without joining the party.

[9] He lost the run-off in Naujamiestis single-member constituency,[10] but was elected to the Twelfth Seimas through the electoral list of the party, where he was rated second.