# Sportsperson of the Year (Czechoslovakia)

Sportsperson of the Year (Czech: Sportovec roku, Slovak: Športovec roka) was a prize awarded annually to the best athletes of Czechoslovakia from 1959 to 1992 by the Club of Czechoslovak Sports Journalists. The first winner was white-water canoer Vladimír Jirásek. From 1961 the prize was also given to the best sports team; the first team recipient was the Czechoslovakia national ice hockey team. Since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993, the prize has continued in both successor countries as the Sportsperson of the Year of the Czech Republic and the Sportsperson of the Year of Slovakia.
The individual prize was usually awarded to a single sportsperson, but on two occasions, two people received it – Eva Romanová and Pavel Roman (ice dancers) in 1962, and the Pospíšil brothers (cycle-ball players) in 1979. The prize was given to 28 different athletes, 22 men and 6 women, in 23 sports disciplines. Gymnast Věra Čáslavská won the prize four times, the most of any sportsperson.She was also the sole recipient to have received it in three consecutive years (from 1966 to 1968). Six individuals were awarded the prize more than once.
The team prize was won by teams in 12 sport disciplines; all winners but one were national teams. The only time members of a sports club team were awarded the Sportsperson of the Year was the Dukla Prague handball team, in 1963. Ice hockey teams were given the award six times – most of all disciplines. Ice hockey goaltender Josef Mikoláš and cross-country skier Květa Jeriová were the only people who won both the individual and the team prize (Mikoláš as a member of the Czechoslovakia national ice hockey team at 1961 World Championships and Jeriová as a member of ski relay at the 1984 Winter Olympics). Men's teams received the prize 20 times, and women's teams won it 3 times. From 1970 to 1977, and in 1979, the team prize was not awarded. The team award was won back to back twice, by the men's national ice hockey team in 1968 and 1969, and by the men's national ski-relay team in 1988 and 1989.

## Individual awards

| × | Sportsmen |
| + | Sportswomen |
| ~ | Mixed pair |
| Year | Name | Sport | Achievements in the given year |
| 1959 | Vladimír Jirásek$^×$ | C1 whitewater slalom | World Championships in Geneva, Switzerland – 1st |
| 1960 | Eva Bosáková$^+$ | Artistic gymnastics | Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, balance beam – 1st, team – 2nd |
| 1961 | Josef Mikoláš$^×$ | Ice hockey (goaltender) | World Championships in Geneva, Switzerland, team – 2nd |
| 1962 | Eva Romanová Pavel Roman$^~$ | Ice dancing | World Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia – 1st European Championships in Geneva, Switzerland – 3rd |
| 1963 | Václav Kozák$^×$ | Rowing | European Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark, single scull – 1st |
| 1964 | Věra Čáslavská$^+$ | Artistic gymnastics | Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, all-round – 1st, balance beam – 1st, vault – 1st, team – 2nd |
| 1965 | Ludvík Daněk$^×$ | Discus throw | World record of 65.22 metres (214 ft) in Sokolov, Czechoslovakia |
| 1966 | Věra Čáslavská$^+$ | Artistic gymnastics | World Championships in Dortmund, West Germany, team – 1st, all-round – 1st, vault – 1st, balance beam – 2nd, floor exercise – 2nd |
| 1967 | Věra Čáslavská$^+$ | Artistic gymnastics | European Championships in Amsterdam, Netherlands, all-round – 1st, vault – 1st, uneven bars – 1st, balance beam – 1st, floor exercise – 1st |
| 1968 | Věra Čáslavská$^+$ | Artistic gymnastics | Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico, all-round – 1st, vault – 1st, uneven bars – 1st, balance beam – 2nd, team – 2nd |
| 1969 | Miloslava Rezková$^+$ | High jump | European Championships in Athens, Greece – 1st |
| 1970 | Ladislav Rygl$^×$ | Nordic combined | World Championships in Vysoké Tatry, Czechoslovakia – 1st |
| 1971 | Ondrej Nepela$^×$ | Figure skating | World Championships in Lyon, France – 1st European Championships in Zürich – 1st |
| 1972 | Ludvík Daněk$^×$ | Discus throw | Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany – 1st |
| 1973 | Jan Kodeš$^×$ | Tennis | Wimbledon Championships – 1st US Open – 2nd |
| 1974 | Vítězslav Mácha$^×$ | Greco-Roman wrestling | World Championships in Katowice, Poland, 74 kg weight class – 1st European Championships in Madrid, Spain, 74 kg weight class – 2nd |
| 1975 | Karel Kodejška$^×$ | Ski jumping | Ski flying World Championships in Bad Mitterndorf, Austria – 1st |
| 1976 | Anton Tkáč$^×$ | Track cycling | Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada, sprint – 1st |
| 1977 | Vítězslav Mácha$^×$ | Greco-Roman wrestling | World Championships in Göteborg, Sweden, 74 kg weight class – 1st |
| 1978 | Anton Tkáč$^×$ | Track cycling | World Championships in Munich, West Germany, sprint for amateurs – 1st |
| 1979 | Pospíšil brothers$^×$ | Cycle ball | World Indoor Cycling Championships in Schiltigheim, France – 1st |
| 1980 | Ota Zaremba$^×$ | Weightlifting | 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Soviet Union, 100 kg weight class – 1st |
| 1981 | Jarmila Kratochvílová$^+$ | Athletics – track disciplines | European Indoor Championships in Grenoble, France, 400 m – 1st |
| 1982 | Imrich Bugár$^×$ | Discus throw | European Athletics Championships in Athens, Greece – 1st |
| 1983 | Jarmila Kratochvílová$^+$ | Athletics – track disciplines | World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, 400 m – 1st (world record of 47.99), 800 m – 1st, 4 × 400 m relay – 2nd European Indoor Championships in Budapest, Hungary, 400 m – 1st 800m world record of 1:53.28 in Munich, West Germany |
| 1984 | Květa Jeriová$^+$ | Cross-country skiing | Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, 5 km – 3rd, 4 x 5 km relay – 2nd |
| 1985 | Petr Jirmus$^×$ | Aerobatics | European Championships – 1st |
| 1986 | Jozef Pribilinec$^×$ | Racewalking | European Championships in Stuttgart, West Germany – 1st |
| 1987 | Jiří Parma$^×$ | Ski jumping | World Championships in Oberstdorf, West Germany – 1st |
| 1988 | Jozef Pribilinec$^×$ | Racewalking | Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea – 1st |
| 1989 | Attila Szabó$^×$ | K-1 canoe sprint | World Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, K-1 10000 m – 1st |
| 1990 | Jozef Lohyňa$^×$ | Freestyle wrestling | World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, 82 kg weight class – 1st |
| 1991 | Radomír Šimůnek$^×$ | Cyclo-cross | World Championships in Gieten, Netherlands – 1st |
| 1992 | Robert Změlík$^×$ | Decathlon | Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain – 1st |

## Team awards

| Year | Team | Achievements in the given year |
| 1961 | Men's national ice hockey team$^×$ | World Championships in Geneva and Lausanne, Switzerland – 2nd |
| 1962 | Men's national football team$^×$ | World Cup in Chile – 2nd |
| 1963 | Dukla Prague men's handball team$^×$ | European Champions Cup – 1st |
| 1964 | Men's national volleyball team$^×$ | Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan – 3rd |
| 1965 | Men's national ice hockey team$^×$ | World Championships in Tampere, Finland – 2nd |
| 1966 | Men's national volleyball team$^×$ | World Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia – 1st |
| 1967 | Men's national handball team$^×$ | World Championships in Sweden – 1st |
| 1968 | Men's national ice hockey team$^×$ | Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France – 2nd |
| 1969 | Men's national ice hockey team$^×$ | World Championships in Stockholm, Sweden – 3rd |
| 1970 | not awarded | |
| 1971 | not awarded | |
| 1972 | not awarded | |
| 1973 | not awarded | |
| 1974 | not awarded | |
| 1975 | not awarded | |
| 1976 | not awarded | |
| 1977 | not awarded | |
| 1978 | National motorcycle team$^×$ | International Six Days Enduro in Värnamo, Sweden – 1st |
| 1979 | not awarded | |
| 1980 | Men's national football team$^×$ | Summer Olympics in Moscow, Soviet Union – 1st |
| 1981 | Men's national road cycling team$^×$ | World Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia, team time trial – 3rd |
| 1982 | National motorcycle team$^×$ | International Six Days Enduro in Považská Bystrica, Czechoslovakia – 1st |
| 1983 | Women's national tennis team$^+$ | Fed Cup – 1st |
| 1984 | Women's national ski-relay team$^+$ | Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia – 2nd |
| 1985 | Men's national ice hockey team$^×$ | 1985 World Ice Hockey Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia – 1st |
| 1986 | Men's national track cycling team$^×$ | World Championships in Colorado Springs, United States, 4000 m team pursuit – 1st |
| 1987 | Women's national volleyball team$^+$ | European Championships in Belgium – 3rd |
| 1988 | Men's national ski-relay team$^×$ | Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada – 3rd |
| 1989 | Men's national ski-relay team$^×$ | World Championships in Lahti, Finland – 3rd |
| 1990 | Men's national football team$^×$ | World Cup in Italy – quarterfinals |
| 1991 | Men's national table-tennis team$^×$ | World Championships in Chiba, Japan – 3rd |
| 1992 | Men's national ice hockey team$^×$ | Winter Olympics in Albertville, France – 3rd World Championships in Czechoslovakia – 3rd |