Sport | Topic Archive

Last month Czech dog sled racer Jana Henychová made history by becoming the first female foreign national to take part in Norway’s Finnmarkslopet, the world’s northern-most race: 1,000 kilometres in tough conditions and tough terrain. She completed the race in eight days, earning enormous respect from both fellow mushers and locals. And, even though she finished last, five others (out of a total of 36 racers) did not finish at all. This week Jana Henychová, who lives in northern Bohemia with her 23 huskies, stopped by Czech Radio to talk about

In Sports News this Monday: the Czech Republic’s footballers come in for some criticism after a toothless performance in a 0:0 draw away to Slovenia in a qualifier for the 2010 World Cup – but a win over Slovakia on Wednesday could see them make headway in an open group; Tomáš Verner comes fourth in the World Figure Skating Championships, after changing his approach to free skating; and Slavia Prague again face Karlovy Vary in the finals of the playoffs of ice hockey’s Extraliga.

An alliance of mayors, associations and prominent citizens have launched an attempt to force Prague city hall to hold a referendum on whether the Czech capital should host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. But they face hurdles in trying to push the controversial question to a vote.

Czech goalkeeper Petr Čech has been named top Czech footballer for the year 2008. Čech, who plays for both London’s Chelsea as well as the national team, beat out Juventus midfielder Pavel Nedvěd for the accolade. It is the second time he has won the competition.

In Sports News this Monday: Peckhart (19) helps Slavia Prague to all three points for the second game in a row – have the Czech football league leaders found a replacement for wunderkind Necid?; Sparta’s ‘kop’ is ordered closed for three games after a ball boy is injured by a flare; it’s 1:1 between Slavia Prague and Plzeň after the opening games of their ice hockey Extraliga semi-finals playoffs series, but Slavia had to mount a real fight-back to take game two; and former world tennis number seven Nicole Vaidišová halts a rather alarming slide

In Sports News this Monday: Czech speed skater Martina Sáblíková wins a third 5000 m world title in Vancouver, despite health problems and a collision with a competitor; Plzeň advance to the semi-finals in the ice hockey Extraliga playoffs after beating Pardubice in the longest game in the competition’s history; Slavia take another step towards retaining the Czech football league title; and Sparta offer to refund fans if they fail to score.

In Sports News this Monday: the Czech Republic beat France to reach the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup in front of a home crowd in Ostrava; Roman Šebrle comes third in the heptathlon at the European Indoor Athletics Championships, with his bronze one of three Czech medals in Turin; Karlovy Vary are the first club into the Extraliga playoffs semi-finals; and 19-year-old footballer Tomáš Necid makes a dream start in Russia with a cup-winning goal.

In Sports News this Monday: the Czech Republic take just one medal at a controversial Nordic World Ski Championships in Liberec; the fans aren’t happy with only three goals scored in six Czech football league games at the weekend; the ice hockey Extraliga playoffs get underway; and the Czech tennis team are in Ostrava ahead of a Davis Cup first round tie with France.

Two of the Czech Republic’s most famous footballers, Pavel Nedvěd of Juventus Turin and Chelsea’s Petr Čech faced off for the first time on Wednesday in the Champions League. The closely-played match saw Chelsea clinch the narrowest of wins ahead of the second-leg on March 10. Nevertheless, for Czech fans the match-up between Nedvěd and Čech was something of a special event, not least because the Juve midfielder has said he will soon retire from the game.

The Czech tennis player Radek Štěpánek is so far having a fantastic 2009. He had taken two singles titles in his whole 13-year professional career prior to this season. However, since the start of January the in-form 30-year-old has won two more titles, missing out on a third when he was beaten in the final of the Memphis Championship on Sunday.