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Sports News
In Sports News this Monday: Czech swimmers enjoy success at the European
Short Course Swimming Championships, bringing home seven medals; the
domestic soccer league goes into its winter break, with Jablonec’s David
Lafata on 13 goals in 16 games; and guess which Czech athletics legend was
among the first dozen inductees into the new IAAF Hall of Fame. More
Dana Zátopková recalls past Olympic triumphs
With the summer Olympics fast approaching Czechs are gauging their chances
and reliving past triumphs. One of the highlights of these past successes
was the 1952 triumph at the Olympic games in Helsinki when 30-year-old
runner Emil Zátopek and his wife Dana bagged four gold medals in quick
succession. Sixty years on Dana, now just weeks short of 90, recalls their
incredible life together and the hard-won successes that made them a
household name. More
Ája Vrzáňová-Steindler: Former ice skating world champion recalls 1950s defection – and much more
Ája Vrzáňová-Steindler is a remarkable woman. Now aged 81, she was
twice crowned world figure skating champion, in 1949 and 1950, while still
in her teens. Immediately after taking her second world title, she won
political asylum in the U.K., before moving to the United States, where she
has spent much of her life. Her mother soon followed her to the West – in
a dramatic escape on one of three civilian planes simultaneously hijacked
by their pilots and flown to an airbase near Munich. Her father, however,
remained in Czechoslovakia. More
Sports News
In Sports News: Fans, players mark the 50th anniversary of
Czechoslovakia’s second-place finish at the 1962 World Cup; Pirlo
emulates Panenka with a cheeky chip against England at EURO 2012; Czech
football champions Liberec will face Kazakhstan’s Shakhter Karagandy in
the 2nd qualifying round of the Champions League; Kvitová begins defence
of Wimbledon title. More
Emil Zátopek: a Czech sporting hero
The early 1950s in Czechoslovakia was a bleak period in the country’s
history, but there was also some escape from politics. In 1952 the Summer
Olympics were held in the Finnish capital Helsinki and the undisputed hero
of the games was the greatest Czech runner of all time, Emil Zátopek.
Despite his extraordinary style, with his face contorted, his head and
torso swinging, and emitting sounds that earned him the nickname of “the
Czech locomotive”, he went to Helsinki having already twice broken the
world record over 20 kilometres. His dream at the Olympics was to win two
gold medals: in the 5,000 and 10,000 metres. Czechoslovak Radio’s Bohuš
Ujček and Vítězslav Mokroš were there to report on the event. More
Football star Josef Masopust and his army team
Czech footballing legend Josef Masopust marks his 80th birthday next week.
In this week’s Czech History, we look at his glittering career and the
mixed fortunes of the communist created army club, Dukla Prague, which he
loyally served for most of his playing career. More
Century of Czech ice hockey celebrated in Prague
Tuesday is a real red letter day for Czech sports fans, as a number of
special events are being held to mark the 100th anniversary of the
foundation of the Czech Ice Hockey Association. The celebrations include
the induction of dozens of people into the Czech hockey Hall of Fame, and
culminate with a friendly game between the Czech Republic and Slovakia in
Prague.
More
Emil Zátopek: a Czech sporting hero
The early 1950s in Czechoslovakia was a bleak period in the country’s
history, but there was also some escape from politics. In 1952 the Summer
Olympics were held in the Finnish capital Helsinki and the undisputed hero
of the games was the greatest Czech runner of all time, Emil Zátopek.
Despite his extraordinary style, with his face contorted, his head and
torso swinging, and emitting sounds that earned him the nickname of “the
Czech locomotive”, he went to Helsinki having already twice broken the
world record over 20 kilometres. His dream at the Olympics was to win two
gold medals: in the 5,000 and 10,000 metres. Czechoslovak Radio’s Bohuš
Ujček and Vítězslav Mokroš were there to report on the event.
More
Olga Fikotová-Connolly: 1956 Olympic champion dubbed “traitor” in communist Czechoslovakia over romance with US athlete
Olga Fikotová won gold in the discus at the Olympic Games in 1956, less
than two years after taking up the discipline. At the Olympics she met and
fell in love with an American athlete, Harold Connolly. Back home in
Czechoslovakia, their romance overshadowed her stunning success, with Olga
accused of being a traitor by the communist authorities. Marriage to Harold
spelled the end of her career as a Czechoslovak athlete, though she went on
to represent the US at four Olympic Games. Olga Fikotová-Connolly is our
guest in this special programme.
More
Antonin Panenka - the footballer Pele described as "either a genius or a madman"
On this day (20/6/1976) thirty one years ago, Czech footballer Antonin
Panenka wrote himself into football history books by scoring the decisive
goal for Czechoslovakia in a penalty shoot-out after the final of the
European Cup of Nations against West Germany ended in a draw. This goal was
undoubtedly one of the greatest moments in Czech sporting history and it
made Panenka a household name. In this edition of Czechs Today, we look at
the career of this great footballer and recall his stunning penalty kick,
which sealed Czechoslovakia's only ever victory in a major international
football tournament.
More
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