List of flag bearers for the Czech Republic at the Olympics
Table:
#
Event year
Season
Flag bearer
Sport

13
2018
Winter
Eva Samková
Snowboarding

12
2016
Summer
Lukáš Krpálek
Judo

11
2014
Winter
Šárka Strachová
Alpine skiing

10
2012
Summer
Petr Koukal
Badminton

9
2010
Winter
Jaromír Jágr
Ice hockey

8
2008
Summer
Štěpánka Hilgertová
Canoe slalom

7
2006
Winter
Martina Sáblíková
Speed skating

6
2004
Summer
Květoslav Svoboda
Swimming

5
2002
Winter
Aleš Valenta
Freestyle skiing

4
2000
Summer
Martin Doktor
Canoe sprint

3
1998
Winter
Luboš Buchta
Cross-country skiing

2
1996
Summer
Václav Chalupa
Rowing

1
1994
Winter
Pavel Benc
Cross-country skiing

Looking at the accompanying table along with the passages listed at the end.

Give the answer to the question: Šárka Strachová was flag bearer for the Czech Republic during the Olympics held in what city ? Output only the correct answer as {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Base your answer solely on the given information.

The 2018 Winter Olympics , officially known as the XXIII Olympic Winter Games ( French : Les XXIIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver ; Korean : 제23회 동계 올림픽 , romanized : Jeisipsamhoe Donggye Ollimpik ) and commonly known as PyeongChang 2018 , was an international winter multi-sport event that was held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County , Gangwon Province , South Korea , with the opening rounds for certain events held on 8 February 2018 , the day before the opening ceremony . Pyeongchang was elected as the host city in July 2011 , at the 123rd IOC Session in Durban , South Africa . This was the second time that South Korea had hosted the Olympic Games , having previously hosted the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul , but it was only the first Winter Olympics to be held in the country . It was the first of three consecutive Olympics to be held in East Asia , the following two being Tokyo 2020 ( summer ) and Beijing 2022 ( winter ) . It was the third time that an East Asian country had hosted the Winter Games , after Sapporo ( 1972 ) and Nagano ( 1998 ) , both of these cities in Japan . It was also the first Winter Olympics to be held in mainland Asia . The Games featured 102 events over 15 disciplines , a record number of events for the Winter Games . Four events made their Olympic debut in 2018 : big air snowboarding , mass start speed skating , mixed doubles curling , and mixed team alpine skiing . A total of 2,914 athletes from 92 NOCs competed , including the national debuts of Ecuador , Eritrea , Kosovo , Malaysia , Nigeria and Singapore . After a state-sponsored doping program was exposed following the 2014 Winter Olympics , the Russian Olympic Committee was suspended , but selected athletes were allowed to compete neutrally under the special IOC designation of Olympic Athletes from Russia ( OAR ) . North Korea agreed to participate in the Games despite tense relations with South Korea ; the two nations paraded together at the opening ceremony as a unified Korea , and fielded a unified team ( COR ) in the women 's ice hockey . Norway led the total medal tally with 39 , followed by Germany 's 31 and Canada 's 29 .
Eva Samková ( born 28 April 1993 ) is a Czech snowboarder who is the 2014 Olympic champion in snowboard cross .
Snowboarding at the 2018 Winter Olympics was held at the Bokwang Phoenix Park in Pyeongchang , South Korea . A total of ten snowboarding events were scheduled to take place between 10 and 24 February 2018 . The parallel slalom event , which made its debut four years earlier at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi , was dropped from the games in 2018 in favour of a new big air event .
The 2016 Summer Olympics ( Portuguese : Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016 ) , [ a ] officially known as the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( Portuguese : Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada ) and commonly known as Rio 2016 , was an international multi-sport event that was held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil , with preliminary events in some sports beginning on 3 August . These were the first Olympic Games ever to be held in South America and the fourth to be held in a developing country , after the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico , the 1980 Summer Olympics in the Soviet Union , and the 2008 Summer Olympics in China . More than 11,000 athletes from 205 National Olympic Committees took part , including first time entrants Kosovo , South Sudan , and the Refugee Olympic Team . With 306 sets of medals , the games featured 28 Olympic sports , including rugby sevens and golf , which were added to the Olympic program in 2009 . These sporting events took place at 33 venues in the host city and at five separate venues in the Brazilian cities of São Paulo , Belo Horizonte , Salvador , Brasília , and Manaus . These were the first Summer Olympic Games to take place under the International Olympic Committee ( IOC ) presidency of Thomas Bach . The host city Rio de Janeiro was announced at the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen , Denmark , on 2 October 2009 . Rio became the first South American city ever to host the Olympic Games . These were the first games to be held in a Portuguese-speaking country , the first summer edition to be held entirely in the host country 's winter season , the first since 1968 to be held in Latin America , and the first since 2000 to be held in the Southern Hemisphere . The United States topped the medal table , winning the most gold and overall medals , 46 and 121 , as well as its 1,000th Summer Olympic gold medal overall . Great Britain finished second and became only the second country in modern Olympic history to increase its tally of medals in the Olympiad immediately after it had been host nation . China finished third .
Lukáš Krpálek ( born 15 November 1990 ) is a Czech heavyweight judoka . He is the current world champion ( 2019 ) , former European champion ( 2014 ) and current Olympic Champion ( 2016 ) . He is the most successful judoka in Czech and Czechoslovakian history , and was named Czech Judoka of the Year eight times between 2008 and 2015 .
Judo at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro took place from 6 to 12 August at the Carioca Arena 2 inside the Barra Olympic Park in Barra da Tijuca . Around 386 judoka competed in 14 events ( seven each for both men and women ) .
The 2014 Winter Olympics , officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games ( French : Les XXIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver ) ( Russian : XXII Олимпийские зимние игры , tr . XXII Olimpiyskiye zimniye igry ) and commonly known as Sochi 2014 , was an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi , Krasnodar Krai , Russia , with opening rounds in certain events held on the eve of the opening ceremony , 6 February 2014 . Both the Olympics and 2014 Winter Paralympics were organized by the Sochi Organizing Committee ( SOOC ) . Sochi was selected as the host city in July 2007 , during the 119th IOC Session held in Guatemala City . It was the first Olympics to be held in a CIS state since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 . The Soviet Union was previously the host nation for the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow . These were the first Olympic Games under the International Olympic Committee ( IOC ) presidency of Thomas Bach . A record 98 events in fifteen winter sport disciplines were held during the Games . A number of new competitions - a total of twelve accounting for gender - were held during the Games , including biathlon mixed relay , women 's ski jumping , mixed-team figure skating , mixed-team luge , half-pipe skiing , ski and snowboard slopestyle , and snowboard parallel slalom . The events were held around two clusters of new venues : an Olympic Park constructed in Sochi 's Imeretinsky Valley on the coast of the Black Sea , with Fisht Olympic Stadium , and the Games ' indoor venues located within walking distance , and snow events in the resort settlement of Krasnaya Polyana . The 2014 Winter Olympics were the most expensive Games in the history of the Olympics . While originally budgeted at US $ 12 billion , major cost overruns , caused this figure to expand to US $ 51 billion , more than three times the cost of the 2012 London Olympics and even surpassing the estimated $ 44 billion cost of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing .
Šárka Strachová ( Czech pronunciation : [ ˈʃaːrka ˈstraxovaː ] ; born Záhrobská on 11 February 1985 ) is a retired Czech World Cup alpine ski racer . Born in Benecko , she specializes in the slalom event . Strachová is the first alpine racer representing the Czech Republic to medal at the Winter Olympics and at the World Championships and just the second Czech alpine skier ever to medal in the Olympics .
Alpine skiing , or downhill skiing , is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings , unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country , Telemark , or ski jumping ) , which use skis with free-heel bindings . Whether for recreation or for sport , it is typically practised at ski resorts , which provide such services as ski lifts , artificial snow making , snow grooming , restaurants , and ski patrol . Off-piste skiers - those skiing outside ski area boundaries - may employ snowmobiles , helicopters or snowcats to deliver them to the top of a slope . Back-country skiers may use specialized equipment with a free-heel mode , including 'sticky ' skins on the bottoms of the skis to stop them sliding backwards during an ascent , then locking the heel and removing the skins for their descent . Alpine skiing has been an event at the Winter Olympic Games since 1936 .
The 2012 Summer Olympics , formally the Games of the XXX Olympiad and commonly known as London 2012 , was an international multi-sport event that was held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London , United Kingdom . The first event , the group stage in women 's football , began on 25 July at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff , followed by the opening ceremony on 27 July . 10,768 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees ( NOCs ) participated . Following a bid headed by former Olympic champion Sebastian Coe and then-Mayor of London Ken Livingstone , London was selected as the host city on 6 July 2005 during the 117th IOC Session in Singapore , defeating bids from Moscow , New York City , Madrid , and Paris . London became the first city to host the modern Olympics three times , having previously hosted the Summer Games in 1908 and in 1948 . Construction for the Games involved considerable redevelopment , with an emphasis on sustainability . The main focus was a new 200-hectare ( 490-acre ) Olympic Park , constructed on a former industrial site at Stratford , East London . The Games also made use of venues that already existed before the bid . The Games received general praise for their organisation , with the volunteers , the British military and public enthusiasm praised particularly highly . The opening ceremony , directed by Danny Boyle , received widespread acclaim throughout the world , particular praise from the British public and a minority of widely ranging criticisms from some social media sites . During the Games , Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time , winning his 22nd medal . Saudi Arabia , Qatar , and Brunei entered female athletes for the first time , so that every currently eligible country has sent a female competitor to at least one Olympic Games .
Petr Koukal ( Czech pronunciation : [ ˈpɛtr̩ ˈkoukal ] ; born December 14 , 1985 ) is a Czech professional badminton player .
Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net . Although it may be played with larger teams , the most common forms of the game are singles ( with one player per side ) and doubles ( with two players per side ) . Badminton is often played as a casual outdoor activity in a yard or on a beach ; formal games are played on a rectangular indoor court . Points are scored by striking the shuttlecock with the racquet and landing it within the opposing side 's half of the court . Each side may only strike the shuttlecock once before it passes over the net . Play ends once the shuttlecock has struck the floor or if a fault has been called by the umpire , service judge , or ( in their absence ) the opposing side . The shuttlecock is a feathered or ( in informal matches ) plastic projectile which flies differently from the balls used in many other sports . In particular , the feathers create much higher drag , causing the shuttlecock to decelerate more rapidly . Shuttlecocks also have a high top speed compared to the balls in other racquet sports . The flight of the shuttlecock gives the sport its distinctive nature . The game developed in British India from the earlier game of battledore and shuttlecock . European play came to be dominated by Denmark but the game has become very popular in Asia , with recent competitions dominated by China .
The 2010 Winter Olympics , officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games ( French : Les XXIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver ) and commonly known as Vancouver 2010 , informally the 21st Winter Olympics , was an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 12 to 28 February 2010 in Vancouver , British Columbia , Canada , with some events held in the surrounding suburbs of Richmond , West Vancouver and the University Endowment Lands , and in the nearby resort town of Whistler . Approximately 2,600 athletes from 82 nations participated in 86 events in fifteen disciplines . Both the Olympic and Paralympic Games were organized by the Vancouver Organizing Committee ( VANOC ) , headed by John Furlong . The 2010 Winter Olympics were the third Olympics hosted by Canada and the first by the province of British Columbia . Canada hosted the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal , Quebec , and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary , Alberta . Metro Vancouver is the largest metropolitan area to host the Winter Olympics , although Calgary is the largest city to host the Winter Olympics . They will both be surpassed by Beijing in 2022 . Following Olympic tradition , the incumbent mayor of Vancouver Sam Sullivan received the Olympic flag during the closing ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin , Italy . The flag was raised on February 28 , 2006 , in a special ceremony and was on display at Vancouver City Hall until the Olympic opening ceremony . The event was officially opened by Governor General Michaëlle Jean , who was accompanied by the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge . For the first time , Canada won gold in an official sport at an Olympic Games hosted at home , having failed to do so at both the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary ( although Canada won the woman 's curling event in Calgary when it was still only a demonstration sport ) . Canada clinched their first gold medal on the second day of the competition and first topped the gold medal tally on the second to last day of competition and went on to become the first host nation since Norway in 1952 to lead the gold medal count .
Jaromír Jágr ( Czech pronunciation : [ ˈjaromiːr ˈjaːɡr̩ ] ( listen ) ; born 15 February 1972 ) is a Czech professional ice hockey right winger for HC Kladno of the Czech Extraliga ( ELH ) . He has previously played in the National Hockey League ( NHL ) for the Pittsburgh Penguins , Washington Capitals , New York Rangers , Philadelphia Flyers , Dallas Stars , Boston Bruins , New Jersey Devils , Florida Panthers and Calgary Flames , serving as captain of the Penguins and the Rangers . After leaving the Rangers in 2008 , he played three seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League ( KHL ) with Avangard Omsk . He returned to the NHL in 2011 with the Flyers and remained in the league for seven more years before being assigned by the Flames in 2018 to HC Kladno , which he owns . Jágr has the second-most points in NHL history , after Wayne Gretzky . He is the most productive European player who has ever played in the NHL and is considered one of the greatest professional hockey players of all time . In 1990 , at age 18 , he was the youngest player in the NHL . Until his transfer , at age 45 , he was the oldest player in the NHL , and is the oldest player to record a hat-trick . In 2017 , Jágr was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in history . Jágr was the fifth overall selection in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft . He won consecutive Stanley Cups in the 1991 and 1992 seasons with the Penguins . Individually , he has won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL scoring champion five times ( four times in a row ) , the Lester B. Pearson Award for the NHL 's outstanding player as voted by the NHL Players ' Association ( NHLPA ) three times and the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league 's most valuable player once , while finishing second four times .
Ice hockey is a contact team sport played on ice , usually in a rink , in which two teams of skaters use their sticks to shoot a vulcanized rubber puck into their opponent 's net to score goals . The sport is known to be fast-paced and physical , with teams usually fielding six players at a time : one goaltender , and five players who skate the span of the ice trying to control the puck and score goals against the opposing team . Ice hockey is most popular in Canada , central and eastern Europe , the Nordic countries , Russia , and the United States . Ice hockey is the official national winter sport of Canada . In addition , ice hockey is the most popular winter sport in Belarus , Croatia , the Czech Republic , Finland , Latvia , Russia , Slovakia , Sweden , and Switzerland . North America 's National Hockey League ( NHL ) is the highest level for men 's ice hockey and the strongest professional ice hockey league in the world . The Kontinental Hockey League ( KHL ) is the highest league in Russia and much of Eastern Europe . The International Ice Hockey Federation ( IIHF ) is the formal governing body for international ice hockey , with the IIHF managing international tournaments and maintaining the IIHF World Ranking . Worldwide , there are ice hockey federations in 76 countries . In Canada , the United States , Nordic countries , and some other European countries the sport is known simply as hockey ; the name ice hockey is used in places where hockey more often refers to the more popular field hockey , such as countries in South America , Asia , Africa , Australasia , and some European countries including the United Kingdom , Ireland and the Netherlands . Ice hockey is believed to have evolved from simple stick and ball games played in the 18th and 19th centuries in the United Kingdom and elsewhere . These games were brought to North America and several similar winter games using informal rules were developed , such as shinny and ice polo .
The 2008 Summer Olympics , officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad ( Chinese : 第二十九届夏季奥林匹克运动会 ; pinyin : Dì Èrshíjiǔ Jiè Xiàjì Àolínpǐkè Yùndònghuì ) and commonly known as Beijing 2008 , was an international multi-sport event that was held from 8 to 24 August 2008 in Beijing , China . [ b ] A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees ( NOCs ) competed in 28 sports and 302 events ( one event more than those scheduled for the 2004 Summer Olympics ) . This was the first time that China had hosted the Summer Olympics , but the third time that the Games had been held in East Asia , following the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo , Japan , and the Seoul 1988 Summer Olympics . These were the second summer Olympic Games staged in a Communist country , after the Moscow 1980 Summer Olympics and the third in a developing country after the Mexico City 1968 Summer Olympics and the 1980 Summer Olympics in the Soviet Union and the first overall Olympics to be hosted by a Communist state since the former Yugoslavia hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo . Beijing was awarded the 2008 Games over four competitors on 13 July 2001 , having won a majority of votes from members of the International Olympic Committee ( IOC ) after two rounds of voting . The Government of the People 's Republic of China promoted the Games and invested heavily in new facilities and transport systems . A total of 37 venues were used to host the events , including twelve constructed specifically for the 2008 Olympics . The equestrian events were held in Hong Kong , making this the third Olympics for which the events were held under the jurisdiction of two different NOCs . [ c ] The sailing events were contested in Qingdao , while the football events took place across several different cities . The official logo for the 2008 Games , titled Dancing Beijing , featured a stylised calligraphic character jīng ( 京 , means capital ) in reference to the host city . The Beijing Olympics was watched by 3,500,000,000 people worldwide and featured the longest distance for an Olympic Torch relay . The event sets numerous world and Olympics records in the history of sports , and is also the most expensive Summer Olympics of all time and second-most expensive overall , after the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi .
Štěpánka Hilgertová ( Czech pronunciation : [ ˈʃcɛpaːŋka ˈɦɪlɡɛrtovaː ] ) ( née Prošková , born 10 April 1968 in Prague ) is a former Czechoslovak-Czech slalom canoeist who competed at the international level from 1988 to 2017 . Competing in six Summer Olympics , she won two gold medals in the K1 event , earning them in 1996 and 2000 . Hilgertová also won fourteen medals at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships with seven golds ( K1 : 1999 , 2003 ; K1 team : 2003 , 2005 , 2010 , 2013 , 2015 ) , five silvers ( K1 : 1997 , K1 team : 1991 , 2006 , 2007 , 2011 ) , and two bronzes ( K1 : 2007 , K1 team : 1989 ) . The K1 team silver in 1991 and K1 team bronze in 1989 were with Czechoslovakia while the remaining medals were for the Czech Republic . She won the overall World Cup title twice ( 1992 and 1998 ) . She also won a total of 15 medals at the European Championships ( 7 golds , 5 silvers and 3 bronzes ) . She announced her retirement from the professional sport in October 2017 , at the age of 49 . She did , however , state that she intends to continue competing as an amateur . Her husband Luboš Hilgert is a former canoe slalom paddler and a multiple medalist from ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships . Their son Luboš is an active canoe slalom paddler as well . Amálie Hilgertová is her niece .
Canoe slalom ( previously known as whitewater slalom ) is a competitive sport with the aim to navigate a decked canoe or kayak through a course of hanging downstream or upstream gates on river rapids in the fastest time possible . It is one of the two kayak and canoeing disciplines at the Summer Olympics , and is referred to by the International Olympic Committee ( IOC ) as Canoe/Kayak Slalom . The other Olympic canoeing discipline is canoe sprint . Wildwater canoeing is a non-Olympic paddlesport .
The 2006 Winter Olympics , officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games ( Italian : XX Giochi olimpici invernali ) and commonly known as Turin 2006 or Torino 2006 , was a winter multi-sport event which was held in Turin , Piedmont , Italy from February 10 to 26 , 2006 . This marked the second time that Italy had hosted the Winter Olympic Games , the first being the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo . Italy also hosted the Summer Olympics in 1960 in Rome . Turin was selected as the host city for the 2006 Games in June 1999 . The official motto of the XX Olympic Winter Games was Passion lives here . The official logo depicts a stylized profile of the Mole Antonelliana building , drawn in white and blue ice crystals , signifying the snow and the sky . The crystal web was also meant to portray the web of new technologies and the Olympic spirit of community . The Olympic mascots of the Games were Neve ( snow in Italian ) , a female snowball , and Gliz , a male ice cube . Italy will host the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo 20 years after these games .
Martina Sáblíková ( Czech pronunciation : [ ˈmarcɪna ˈsaːbliːkovaː ] ( listen ) ) ( born 27 May 1987 ) is a Czech speed skater , specializing in long track speed skating . She is an Olympic gold medal winner and a multiple European and World allround champion . She became the first Czech to win two Olympic gold medals at one Winter Games in the 2010 Olympiad . Sáblíková also competes in inline speed skating and road cycling races as a part of her summer preparation for the skating season . In cycling , she focuses especially on individual time trial discipline in which Sáblíková holds multiple Czech Republic National Championships titles and belongs to world 's top 15 female time-trialists . Sáblíková is the elder sister of fellow speedskater Milan Sáblík .
Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates . Types of speed skating are long track speed skating , short track speed skating , and marathon speed skating . In the Olympic Games , long-track speed skating is usually referred to as just speed skating , while short-track speed skating is known as short track . The ISU , the governing body of both ice sports , refers to long track as speed skating and short track as short track skating . An international federation was founded in 1892 , the first for any winter sport . The sport enjoys large popularity in the Netherlands , Norway and South Korea . There are top international rinks in a number of other countries , including Canada , the United States , Germany , Italy , Japan , Russia , Kazakhstan , China , Belarus and Poland . A World Cup circuit is held with events in those countries plus two events in the Thialf ice hall in Heerenveen , Netherlands .
The 2004 Summer Olympics ( Greek : Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004 , Therinoí Olympiakoí Agónes 2004 ) , officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad and commonly known as Athens 2004 , was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens , Greece , from 13 to 29 August 2004 with the motto Welcome Home . The Games saw 10,625 athletes compete , some 600 more than expected , accompanied by 5,501 team officials from 201 countries . There were 301 medal events in 28 different sports . Athens 2004 marked the first time since the 1996 Summer Olympics that all countries with a National Olympic Committee were in attendance . 2004 also marked the return of the Olympic Games to the city where they began . Having previously hosted the Olympics in 1896 , Athens became one of only four cities to have hosted the Summer Olympic Games on two separate occasions at the time ( together with Paris , London , and Los Angeles ) . A new medal obverse was introduced at these Games , replacing the design by Giuseppe Cassioli that had been used since the 1928 Games . This rectified the long lasting mistake of using a depiction of the Roman Colosseum rather than a Greek venue . The new design features the Panathenaic Stadium . The 2004 Summer Games were hailed as unforgettable , dream games by IOC President Jacques Rogge , and left Athens with a significantly improved infrastructure , including a new airport , ring road , and subway system . There have been arguments ( mostly in popular media ) regarding the cost of the 2004 Athens Summer Games and their possible contribution to the 2010-2018 Greek government-debt crisis , however , there is little or no evidence for such a correlation . The 2004 Olympics were generally deemed to be a success , with the rising standard of competition amongst nations across the world .
Květoslav Svoboda ( Czech pronunciation : [ ˈkvjɛtoslaf ˈsvoboda ] ) ( born August 25 , 1982 in Znojmo ) is an Olympic freestyle swimmer from the Czech Republic . He swam for the Czech Republic at the 2000 , 2004 and 2008 Olympics . At the 2002 FINA Short Course World Championships he won the silver medal in the 400m Freestyle behind Australia 's Grant Hackett .
Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one 's entire body to move through water . The sport takes place in pools or open water ( e.g. , in a sea or lake ) . Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic sports , with varied distance events in butterfly , backstroke , breaststroke , freestyle , and individual medley . In addition to these individual events , four swimmers can take part in either a freestyle or medley relay . A medley relay consists of four swimmers who will each swim a different stroke , ordered as backstroke , breaststroke , butterfly and freestyle . Swimming each stroke requires a set of specific techniques ; in competition , there are distinct regulations concerning the acceptable form for each individual stroke . There are also regulations on what types of swimsuits , caps , jewelry and injury tape that are allowed at competitions . Although it is possible for competitive swimmers to incur several injuries from the sport , such as tendinitis in the shoulders or knees , there are also multiple health benefits associated with the sport .
The 2002 Winter Olympics , officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 , was a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated from 8 to 24 February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City , Utah , United States . 2,399 athletes from 78 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines , held throughout 165 sporting sessions . The 2002 Winter Olympics and the 2002 Paralympic Games were both organized by the Salt Lake Organizing Committee ( SLOC ) , the first time in Olympic and Paralympic history that both events were organized by a single committee . Utah became the fifth state in the United States to host the Olympic Games , after Missouri , New York , California , and Georgia . These were the first Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Jacques Rogge . The opening ceremony was held on February 8 , 2002 , and sporting competitions were held up until the closing ceremony on February 24 , 2002 . Production for both ceremonies was designed by Seven Nielsen , and music for both ceremonies was directed by Mark Watters . Salt Lake City became the most populous area ever to have hosted the Winter Olympics , although the two subsequent host cities ' populations were larger . Following a trend , the 2002 Olympic Winter Games were also larger than all prior Winter Games , with 10 more events than the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano , Japan . Norway won the most gold medals while Germany won the most number of medals . The Salt Lake Games faced a bribery scandal and some local opposition during the bid . Nevertheless , from sporting and business standpoints , this was one of the most successful Winter Olympiads in history ; records were set in both the broadcasting and marketing programs .
Aleš Valenta ( Czech pronunciation : [ ˈalɛʃ ˈvalɛnta ] ) ( born 6 February 1973 in Šumperk , Czechoslovakia ) is a former Czech freestyle skier who participated in aerials . On February 19 , 2002 , he won the Winter Olympics gold medal in the freestyle aerials competition where he succeeded to perform the first triple back flip with five twists in the world . He operates the freestyle skiing centre in the town of Štíty . He was the first man to perform triple sallet with five screws .
Freestyle skiing is a skiing discipline comprising aerials , moguls , cross , half-pipe , slopestyle and big air as part of the Winter Olympics . It can consist of a skier performing aerial flips and spins , and can include skiers sliding rails and boxes on their skis . It is also commonly referred to as freeskiing , jibbing , as well as many other names around the world .
The 2000 Summer Olympics , officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and commonly known as Sydney 2000 or the Millennium Olympic Games/Games of the New Millennium , was an international multi-sport event held between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney , New South Wales , Australia . It was the second time the Summer Olympics were held in Australia , and also the Southern Hemisphere , the first being in Melbourne , Victoria , in 1956 .
Martin Doktor ( Czech pronunciation : [ ˈmarcɪn ˈdoktor ] ; born 21 May 1974 in Polička , Czechoslovakia ) is the Czech Republic 's best-known sprint canoeist . He was double Olympic champion in the Canadian canoe C-1 discipline at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta . During the 1996 games , his mother cooked knedliky ( Dumplings in Czech ) , using dozens of kg of flour brought over from the Czech Republic . Doktor went on to win 14 medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships , including two golds ( C-1 200 m : 1998 , C-1 500 m : 1997 ) , nine silvers ( C-1 200 m : 1997 , 1999 , 2003 ; C-1 500 m : 1995 , 1999 ; C-1 1000 m : 1995 , 1997 , 1998 , 2001 ) , and three bronzes ( C-1 500 m : 2003 , C-1 1000 m : 1999 , C-4 1000 m : 1998 ) . He was also European C-1 1000 m champion in 1997 and 2000 . At the 2004 Summer Olympics Doktor was unfortunate not to add to his medal tally , coming in fourth in the C-1 1000 m final and fifth in the C-1 500 m. His most recent medal success came at the 2006 European Championships , held in Račice , Czech Republic , where he won the C-1 200 m silver medal . Doktor , nicknamed Boban , remains one of canoeing 's most consistent performers . At the 2006 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships he entered all three C-1 events , reaching the final in each . He finished fourth in the 200 m , fifth in the 500 m , and eighth in the 1000 m. He is 178 cm ( 5'10 ) tall and weighs 78 kg ( 172 lbs ) .
Canoe sprint is a sport in which athletes race canoes or kayaks on calm water .
The 1998 Winter Olympics , officially the XVIII Olympic Winter Games ( French : Les XVIIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver ) ( Japanese : 第十八回オリンピック冬季競技大会 , Dai Jūhachi-kai Orinpikku Tōkikyōgi Taikai ) , and commonly known as Nagano 1998 , was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 7 to 22 February 1998 that were centered in Nagano , Japan . The Games also took place in the nearby mountain communities of Hakuba , Karuizawa , Nozawa Onsen , and Yamanouuchi . The city of Nagano had previously been a candidate to host the 1940 Winter Olympics ( which were later cancelled ) , as well as the 1972 Winter Olympics , but each time Nagano was eliminated at the national level by Sapporo . The games hosted 2,176 athletes from 72 nations competing in 7 sports and 68 events . The number of athletes and participating nations were a record at the time . The Games saw the introduction of women 's ice hockey , curling and snowboarding . National Hockey League players were allowed to participate in the men 's ice hockey for the first time . Five countries , Azerbaijan , Kenya , Macedonia , Uruguay , and Venezuela made their debut at the Winter Olympics . The athlete who won the most medals at these games was the Russian cross-country skier Larisa Lazutina who won five medals , including three gold . The Norwegian cross-country skier Bjørn Dæhlie won four medals , including three gold , which took his total Olympic medal total to 12 , including eight gold , which is a record for Winter Olympics . In ice hockey , professionals from the North American National Hockey League participated for the first time . Despite their participation , the Czech men 's ice hockey team won the gold medal .
Lubomír Buchta ( born 16 May 1967 in Nové Město na Moravě ) was a Czech cross country skier who competed from 1989 to 1999 . Competing in three Winter Olympics , his best finish was seventh in the 4 x 10 km relay at Albertville in 1992 while his best individual finish was 13th twice ( 30 km : 1992 , 50 km : 1998 ) . Buchta 's best finish at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships was fifth in the 10 km event at Val di Fiemme in 1991 . His best World Cup finish was third in a 50 km event in Norway in 1992 . Buchta earned four FIS race victories up to 15 km from 1994 to 1997 .
Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain , rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance . Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreational activity ; however , some still use it as a means of transportation . Variants of cross-country skiing are adapted to a range of terrain which spans unimproved , sometimes mountainous terrain to groomed courses that are specifically designed for the sport . Modern cross-country skiing is similar to the original form of skiing , from which all skiing disciplines evolved , including alpine skiing , ski jumping and Telemark skiing . Skiers propel themselves either by striding forward ( classic style ) or side-to-side in a skating motion ( skate skiing ) , aided by arms pushing on ski poles against the snow . It is practised in regions with snow-covered landscapes , including Northern Europe , Canada , Russia , the United States , Australia and New Zealand . Competitive cross-country skiing is one of the Nordic skiing sports . Cross-country skiing and rifle marksmanship are the two components of biathlon , ski-orienteering is a form of cross-country skiing , which includes map navigation along snow trails and tracks .
The 1996 Summer Olympics , officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad , commonly known as Atlanta 1996 , and also referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games , were an international multi-sport event that was held from July 19 to August 4 , 1996 , in Atlanta , Georgia , U.S . These Games , which were the fourth Summer Olympics to be hosted by the United States , marked the centennial of the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens - the inaugural edition of the modern Olympic Games . They were also the first since 1924 to be held in a different year from a Winter Olympics , under a new IOC practice implemented in 1994 to hold the Summer and Winter Games in alternating , even-numbered years . More than 10,000 athletes from 197 National Olympic Committees competed in 26 sports , including the Olympic debuts of beach volleyball , mountain biking , and softball , as well as the new disciplines of lightweight rowing and women 's football ( soccer ) . 24 countries made their Summer Olympic debut in Atlanta , including eleven former Soviet republics participating for the first time as independent nations . The hosting United States led the medal count with a total of 101 medals , and the most gold ( 44 ) and silver ( 32 ) medals out of all countries . The U.S. topped the medal count for the first time since 1984 , and for the first time since 1968 in a non-boycotted Summer Olympics . Notable performances during competition included those of Andre Agassi - who became the first men 's singles tennis player to combine a career Grand Slam with an Olympic gold medal , Donovan Bailey - who set a new world record of 9.84 for the men 's 100 meters , and Lilia Podkopayeva - who became the second gymnast to win an individual event gold after winning the all-round title in the same Olympics . The festivities were marred by violence on July 27 , when Eric Rudolph detonated pipe bombs at Centennial Olympic Park - a downtown park that was built to serve as a public focal point for the Games ' festivities , killing 1 and injuring 111 . In 2003 , Rudolph confessed to the bombing and a series of related attacks on abortion centers and a gay bar , and was sentenced to life in prison . He claimed that the bombing was meant to protest the U.S. government 's sanctioning of abortion on demand . The Games turned a profit , helped by record revenue from sponsorship deals and broadcast rights , and reliance on private funding ( as opposed to the extensive public funding used on later Olympics ) , among other factors .
Václav Chalupa Jr. ( born 7 December 1967 in Jindřichův Hradec , Czechoslovakia ) is a Czech rower who competed at six consecutive Olympics from 1988 to 2008 , winning a silver medal in 1992 behind Thomas Lange in the single scull .
Rowing , sometimes referred to as crew in the United States , is a sport whose origins reach back to Ancient Egyptian times . It involves propelling a boat ( racing shell ) on water using oars . By pushing against the water with an oar , a force is generated to move the boat . The sport can be either recreational for enjoyment or fitness , or competitive , when athletes race against each other in boats . There are a number of different boat classes in which athletes compete , ranging from an individual shell ( called a single scull ) to an eight-person shell with a coxswain ( called a coxed eight ) . Modern rowing as a competitive sport can be traced to the early 17th century when races ( regattas ) were held between professional watermen on the River Thames in London , United Kingdom . Often prizes were offered by the London Guilds and Livery Companies . Amateur competition began towards the end of the 18th century with the arrival of boat clubs at the British public schools of Eton College , Shrewsbury School , Durham School , and Westminster School . Similarly , clubs were formed at the University of Oxford , with a race held between Brasenose College and Jesus College in 1815 . At the University of Cambridge the first recorded races were in 1827 . Public rowing clubs were beginning at the same time ; in England Leander Club was founded in 1818 , in Germany Der Hamburger und Germania Ruder Club was founded in 1836 and in the United States Narragansett Boat Club was founded in 1838 and Detroit Boat Club was founded in 1839 . In 1843 , the first American college rowing club was formed at Yale University .
The 1994 Winter Olympics ( Norwegian : Olympiske vinterleker 1994 ) , officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games , was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer , Norway . Lillehammer failed to win the bid for the 1992 event , losing to Albertville . Lillehammer was awarded the 1994 Winter Olympics in 1988 , after beating Anchorage , United States ; Östersund , Sweden ; and Sofia , Bulgaria . Lillehammer is the northernmost city to ever host the Winter Games and the Olympic Games overall . The Games were the first to be held in a different year from the Summer Olympics , the first and only one to be held two years after the previous winter games . The Games were the second Winter Olympics hosted in Norway , after the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo , and the fourth Olympics in the Nordic countries , after the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm , Sweden , and the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki , Finland . Although many events took place in Lillehammer , skating took place in Hamar , some ice hockey matches were placed in Gjøvik , while Alpine skiing was held in Øyer and Ringebu . Sixty-seven countries and 1,737 athletes participated in six sports and sixty-one events . Fourteen countries made their debut in the Winter Olympics , of which nine were former Soviet republics . The Games also saw the introduction of stricter qualifying rules , reducing the number of under-performing participants from warm-weather countries . New events were two new distances in short track speed skating and aerials , while speed skating was moved indoors . Nearly two million people spectated the games , which were the first to have the Olympic truce in effect .
Pavel Benc ( Czech pronunciation : [ ˈpavɛl ˈbɛnts ] ) ( born 10 July 1963 , in Jablonec nad Nisou ) is a Czech cross-country skier who raced from 1985 to 1997 . He earned a bronze medal in the 4 x 10 kilometer event at the 1988 Winter Olympics . His best individual Winter Olympics finish was a 25th in the 30 kilometer event , during the 1994 Winter Olympics . Benc 's best finish was 5th in the 50 kilometer event at the 1991 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships . His best overall finish was second in a 15 kilometer event in 1993 .