Sport

Czech sport has a long-standing tradition marked with numerous achievements. The names of Emil Zátopek, Jaromír Jágr, Pavel Nedvěd and Jan Železný are known across the world. Czech ice-hockey players, skiers, footballers and tennis players are admired by domestic and foreign fans alike. In recent years, Czech sport has maintained a stable standard in the face of global competition. Besides the financial background, domestic successes can be attributed to traditional Czech competitiveness and, more recently, quality training facilities. The most popular sports in the Czech Republic are football and ice-hockey.

The Czech Republic also boasts several sports inventions of its own. For example, Czech handball is a purely Czech sport, which has different rules from conventional handball and has become popular around the world, especially in France, Poland, Belgium and Romania.Another Czech innovation, which emerged in the 1920s, is the collective ball game called footballtennis.The rules are similar to volleyball, but the number of players is different, and feet are used instead of hands.

And that is not all. Jiří Guth-Jarkovský, a great promoter of sports, was one of the founding members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).He co-authored the Olympic Charter and, as the IOC Secretary-General, helped draw up the rules for anumber of modern sport disciplines.

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June 2009

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