BID The Czech Ice Hockey Association submitted a bid to host the 2012 World Championship in Prague and Ostrava. Denmark, Finland, Hungary and Sweden are also vying to host the event. The International Ice Hockey Federation will choose the location of the tournament in May. The Czechs last hosted the World Championship in 2004.

DERBY The Czech national soccer team crushed rival Slovakia 3–0 in a Euro 2008 qualifier in Bratislava Sept. 6. Glasgow Rangers midfielder Libor Sionko scored two goals in the match. The Czechs have tallied two wins in their opening two qualifiers. They are scheduled to face San Marino Oct. 7 in Ireland.

CITIZENSHIP Jana Novotná, the 1998 Wimbledon women's singles champion, is set to become the third Czech Grand Slam winner to gain U.S. citizenship. The 37-year-old native of Brno, south Moravia, lives in Highland Beach, Florida. By accepting U.S. citizenship, Novotná will lose her Czech passport. She follows tennis greats Martina Navrátilová and Ivan Lendl, who both have become U.S. citizens.

STADIUM The Slavia Praha soccer club signed a contract with developer Hochtief VSB Sept. 8 to build a new 21,000-seat stadium in Prague 10. Total cost of the stadium could reach 10 billion Kč ($455.6 million). Once built, it will be the biggest soccer venue in the country. Construction will begin in October, and the stadium is scheduled to open in March 2008.

SCOUT English Premiership champion Chelsea hired Czech scout Jan Říčka as the chief youth scout for Central Europe. Říčka will monitor young players in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary.

OLYMPICS The City of Prague could run a successful bid to host the Summer Olympics, International Olympic Committee Chairman Jacques Rogge told Czech Olympic Ambassador Otto Jelínek during a meeting Sept. 12. Rogge said that the city's infrastructure would be a deciding factor for awarding the games to the city. Prague is expected to bid for hosting the games in 2016 and 2020.

PEAKS Mountaineer Radek Jaroš announced his intention to scale the world's 14 highest peaks. Jaroš has already summitted six, and plans to scale the 8,167-meter (26,950-foot) Dhaulagiri in the Himalayas this fall. Czech mountaineer Josef Rakoncaj has planted his feet on nine of the 14 world's highest peaks.