Sports

Football

Football is the most popular sport in the Czech Republic. The Czech Football Association has run the country´s top league, the 1st league, since 1925. The most popular club, AC Sparta Praha, have been remarkably successful in both domestic and European contests. 

Ice-hockey

For years Czechoslovakia's national ice hockey teams have ranked among the top five or six national teams in the world. The national ice hockey team have won the World Hockey Championships seven times (the last time in 1996 in Vienna). They came 2nd in the Canada Cup in 1976. Today, Czech ice hockey suffers from a mass exodus of its best players to foreign leagues, especially to the NHL. 

Tennis
Czech tennis players have been remarkably successful in international competitions. One of them, Martina Navrátilová, is arguably the best female tennis player of all time. 

Many other male and female tennis players have appeared in the top 100 rankings of international tennis.

Track and Field

Czech athletes have made a great impression on track and field competitions. For example, the runner E. Zátopek, the javelin-thrower B. Špotáková, the discus-thrower I. Bugár, the decathlete R. Změlík, the shot-putter R. Machura and others are among the most famous Czech athletes.


Czech Sports Legends


Václav Nedomanský was a ice hockey player. He is best known for being the first player to defect to North America in 1974, but the first part of his career was spent behind the iron curtain tearing up the Czechoslovak Extraliga (369 goals in 419 games) he also was #2-ranked Czech National Team to two Olympic podium finishes.

Jan Železný is the greatest javelin thrower of all-time. Iron Jan owns all five of the top five javelin performances ever including the world record set in 1996, which still stands. He won Olympic gold in 1992, 1996, and 2000.

Pavel Nedvěd was a football player Widely regarded as one of the finest midfielders of the modern era. 

His biggest career challenge came in 2001, when he was tabbed to replace the legendary Zinedine Zidane in the Juventus midfield. Nedvěd was awarded European Footballer of the Year later that year.

Věra Čáslavská the cheerful and outspoken Čáslavska began her dominant run through the world of women’s gymnastics by doing something no other gymnast had ever been able to do. Her all-around gold medal at the 1964 Olympics started a streak that saw her claim the all-around gold at every Olympics, World championships, and European championships from one Olympiad through the next, something that no other female gymnast has ever done. Her 7 Olympic golds in individual events is a record for female gymnasts.