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December 1st, 2008
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Golden moment

Fewer medals, more drama for the Czech Olympic team

By František Bouc
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
August 27th, 2008 issue

ISIFA
Barbora Špotáková, just moments after her longest throw ever, clinched gold in the javelin competition Aug. 21, breaking the European record as well.
Czech medal winners

Gold
Kateřina Emmons, 10m air rifle
David Kostelecký, trap shooting
Barbora Špotáková, javelin

Silver
Kateřina Emmons, 50m rifle
Jaroslav Volf/Ondřej Štěpánek, double canoe
Ondřej Synek, single scull

The Czech Olympic team returned home from the Summer Games with mixed feelings.
In the 16 days of competition, Czech athletes won six medals in four different sports, taking three gold and three silver medals. Shooter Kateřina Emmons captured the first gold of the Beijing events and Barbora Špotáková’s dramatic win in javelin excited fans around the world Aug. 21.
“Three gold medals is more than we hoped for,” says Czech Olympic Committee (ČOV) Chairman Milan Jirásek. “On the other hand, we kind of expected there would be more Czech medal winners.”
Indeed, the six medals earned in Beijing ranks as the team’s lowest Summer Games count since 1956 in Melbourne. Four years ago in Athens, the Czech team brought home seven medals, although decathlete Roman Šebrle grabbed the only gold.
The poor medal showing in Beijing looks disappointing, particularly after such a promising beginning.
Quick start, slow finish
When shooter Kateřina Emmons claimed the 2008 Olympics’ first gold medal and David Kostelecký followed up with the top spot in men’s trap shooting the next day, it marked the Czech squad’s best ever start.
But then the team hit a dry spell.
It was Emmons again who finally added to the Czech medal tally with silver in women’s 50m rifle Aug. 14. Whitewater canoeists Jaroslav Volf and Ondřej Štěpánek finished second in men’s doubles a day later, adding another silver to the count. And rower Ondřej Synek was runner-up in the men’s scull competition.
Other Czech athletes lagged behind expectations. In his most disappointing international campaign, Šebrle failed to repeat his decathlon success in Athens, finishing a distant sixth.
“I was completely out of shape after repeated injuries this season,” he says. “Although I knew I would not do too well this time, I wanted to complete the race.”
Rower Mirka Knapková and long-distance swimmer Jana Pechanová, both of whom had been touted as medal contenders before the games got under way, struggled with illness in smoggy Beijing and also fell short of podium finishes.
“You work hard for four years and then you get sick at the worst possible moment,” Pechanová says, trying to shrug off the frustration.
Modern pentathlete David Svoboda looked like a solid prospect for silver, at least, holding second place following the shooting, swimming and fencing stages. But critical errors in the equestrian phase of the competition destroyed his chance of getting any Olympic hardware.
Javelin epic
But there was still one moment of drama, a come-from-behind epic, that transfixed and elated fans in this country.
Before the games, the American magazine Sports Illustrated tapped javelin thrower Barbora Špotáková as the Czech Republic’s only hope for gold in Beijing. The imposing athlete also attracted attention away from the field, freely voicing her reservations about China’s controversial human rights record.
In Beijing, however, all eyes focused on her duel with little-known Russian Maria Abakumova.
Špotáková seemed destined to win after a toss of 69.22 meters — her all-time personal best. Only minutes later Abakumova answered with a 69.32, claiming the lead. The Russian then fired the javelin 70.78 — practically clinching the gold.
With just one throw remaining, Špotáková turned to history for inspiration. “The event was held Aug. 21, 40 years after the Russians invaded our country,” she explains. Pacing up and down, waiting for her turn, gathering herself for a last desperate heave, her mind settled on one thought. “I did not want to lose to a Russian and then hear the Russian anthem on this day.”
In her very last attempt, Špotáková unleashed a powerful throw, almost flinging herself to the ground as she released the javelin. It slashed a long arch through the air and pierced the earth, 71.42 meters away.
Television cameras captured her emotions as she fell to her knees, gaping at the scoreboard in disbelief.
“It was a miracle,” she repeated excitedly after the event.
ČOV Chairman Jirásek says Špotáková’s triumph was one of the greatest Czech Olympic victories of all time.
“There was everything — drama, high spirits, fading hopes and that unbelievably happy ending.”

František Bouc can be reached at fbouc@praguepost.com


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