A sports year full of highs and lows

Should 2009 have ended a few months earlier, there would not be much to celebrate in the Czech sports community.

The national tennis team's advancement to the final of the Davis Cup provided a long-awaited touch of glamour. Though the team, led by Tomáš Berdych and Radek Štěpánek, was soundly defeated by Spain in the finals held in early December in Barcelona, the event was still a sporting landmark for the year. It was the first time in 29 years - and only the third time in the country's history - that the tennis team made it all the way to the final of the world's most prestigious tennis team competition.

En route to the Davis Cup final, the Czechs beat France, Argentina and Croatia. The semifinal contest in Croatia was especially memorable thanks to Štěpánek's win over Ivo Karlović after five sets and six hours of play. It was the second-longest match in Davis Cup history.

Jockey makes history

The only Czech athlete to be officially honored by the state this year was 57-year-old jockey Josef Váňa.  

The veteran jockey scored a stunning triumph in the Grand Pardubice Steeplechase in mid-October. He became the oldest jockey to win the world's most grueling horse race. It was in fact Váňa's sixth win at Pardubice in his career.

"Never has the maxim 'age before beauty' been more appropriate," wrote legendary British jockey Marcus Armytage in his report from Pardubice. "The more I watched the race that evening, the more evident it became that Váňa gave his mount Tiumen one of the genuinely great rides of all time."

Váňa's ride also caught the eye of President Václav Klaus. Only two weeks after the steeplechase, Klaus invited him to Prague Castle for celebrations of the national holiday and decorated the jockey with a state honor.

Soccer star quits

If Váňa made the most impressive comeback, soccer star Pavel Nedvěd's retirement was the highest-profile. Nedvěd became in 2003 only the second Czech player in history to win the Golden Ball, arguably the most prestigious individual soccer trophy in the world. He was a key player for the Czech team's silver-medal win at Euro 96 in England and the team's bronze-medal win at Euro 2004 in Portugal. Nedvěd played his last competitive match for Juventus in the Italian league in late May. He said afterward it was his last appearance in professional soccer.

Later on, Nedvěd repeatedly alluded to a possible comeback. He said he had offers in Italy, the United States and also the United Arab Emirates.

"I'll see after the holidays whether I'd be able to live without soccer or not," he said.

In late August, however, Nedvěd said his decision to end his career was final.

National team disappoints

Following an impressive run on the international circuit in recent years, the national soccer team had been expected to set off for another challenge: the 2010 World Cup. However, instead of qualifying for the tournament, the Czech team consistently underperformed during qualifying and eventually fell short of advancing to the World Cup. After new head coach Michal Bílek took over in November, the team had an embarrassing performance at a tournament in the United Arab Emirates. The Czechs lost to the home team and also to Azerbaijan.

"The generation exchange on the national team could be more painful than we originally thought," Bílek said after the losses.

Greatest fiasco

The biggest sports event held in this country in 2009 was also arguably the year's greatest fiasco. Organizers of the World Skiing Championship in Liberec in February face multiple lawsuits from creditors who claim they are owed more than 80 million Kč. The event ended with huge losses despite a government cash infusion of more than 2.3 billion Kč.

Controversial accounting practices have forced the Sports and Education Ministry to issue new rules stipulating that ministry clerks must be involved in organizing committees of major sporting events, with the minister responsible for approving any event's budget.

František Bouc can be reached at
fbouc@praguepost.com