Golden Spike Ostrava
World records
Table:
Year

Event

Record

Athlete

Nationality

2019

300 m

34.41 [WB]

Shaunae Miller-Uibo

Bahamas

2017

300 m

30.81 [WB]

Wayde van Niekerk

South Africa

2011

100 y

9.91+ (+1.1 m/s) [WB]

Veronica Campbell-Brown

Jamaica

2010

100 y

9.07+ (-0.5 m/s) [WB]

Asafa Powell

Jamaica

2008

110 m hurdles

12.87 (+0.9 m/s)

Dayron Robles

Cuba

2008

One hour

18517 m

Dire Tune

Ethiopia

2007

20,000 m (track)

56:25.98+

Haile Gebrselassie

Ethiopia

2007

One hour

21285 m

Haile Gebrselassie

Ethiopia

2004

10,000 m

26:20.31

Kenenisa Bekele

Ethiopia

2004

Pole vault

4.83 m

Stacy Dragila

United States

2002

3000 m steeplechase

9:21.72

Alesya Turova

Belarus

1995

Pole vault

4.15 m

Daniela Bártová

Czech Republic

1975

100 m

9.9

Silvio Leonard

Cuba

1973

100 m

10.9

Renate Stecher

East Germany

1949

10,000 m

29:21.2

Emil Zátopek

Czechoslovakia

1949

10,000 m

29:28.2

Emil Zátopek

Czechoslovakia

Leveraging the following table along with the article excerpts listed at the end.

Solve the question: In what city was the pole vaulter from the United States from ? Provide just your answer in a JSON object {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Base your answer solely on the given information.

The 300 metres is an uncommon sprinting event in track and field competitions .
Shaunae Miller-Uibo ( born 15 April 1994 ) is a Bahamian athlete sprinter who competes in the 200 and 400 metres . She was the 400 metres Olympic champion in 2016 and was the 200 m gold medallist at the 2018 Commonwealth Games . At the World Championships in Athletics she won 400 m silver in 2015 and 2019 and 200 m bronze in 2017 . Miller-Uibo was a 400 m gold medallist at the 2010 World Junior and 2011 World Youth Championships before taking her first senior medal ( a bronze ) at the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships . She was the IAAF Diamond League champion in both 200 m and 400 m in 2017 . Her personal best of 21.74 is the Bahamian national record for the 200 m. She is the fastest Bahamian over 400 m with a time of 48.37 seconds ( IAAF World Championships 2019 ) , which secured her the sixth place at the all-time top list . She holds unofficial world records in the 200 metres straight and 300 metres indoor events . She has won several national titles in 200 m and 400 m , and also won the NCAA Division I Indoor title for the Georgia Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs .
Wayde van Niekerk ( South African English : /ˈweɪd fʌn niːˈkɛərk/ , Afrikaans : [ fan niˈkɛrk ] ; born 15 July 1992 ) is a South African track and field sprinter who competes in the 200 and 400 metres . In the 400 metres , he is the current world and Olympic record holder , and world and Olympic champion . He also holds the world-best time in the 300 metres . Van Niekerk was the silver medallist in the 400m at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and took bronze in the 4×400 metres relay at the 2013 Summer Universiade . He also represented South Africa at the 2013 and 2015 Athletics World Championships . At the 2015 World Championships , he won the gold medal in the 400 meters . He defended his title two years later , in London , where he also won the silver medal in the 200 meters race . In the 2016 Olympic Games men 's 400m , Van Niekerk won the gold medal with a world record time of 43.03 seconds ( reaction time 0.181 s ) at age 24 years and 30 days , beating the time of 43.18 seconds set by Michael Johnson during the 1999 World Championships in Athletics in Seville , Spain . In 2016 , Van Niekerk became the first , and to date , only , sprinter in history to have run the 100 metres in under 10 seconds , 200 metres in under 20 seconds , and 400 metres in under 44 seconds . In 2017 , after a 30.81 seconds victory in the seldom-run 300 metres distance , breaking Michael Johnson 's world-best time of 30.85 which was set in 2000 , Van Niekerk became the only sprinter in history to have run sub-10 , sub-20 , sub-31 and sub-44 performances at 100m , 200m , 300m and 400m respectively .
The 100-yard dash is a track and field event of 100 yards or 91.44 metres . It was part of the Commonwealth Games until 1966 , and was included in the decathlon of the Olympics , at least in 1904 . It is not generally used in international events ( having been replaced by the 100-metre sprint ) . However , it is still occasionally run in the United States in certain competitions . Walter Halben Butler ( 1852-1931 ) is credited with being the first to run the race in 10 seconds .
Veronica Campbell Brown C.D ( born 15 May 1982 ) is a Jamaican track and field sprinter , who specializes in the 100 and 200 meters . An eight-time Olympic medalist , she is the second woman in history to win two consecutive Olympic 200 m events , after Bärbel Wöckel of Germany at the 1976 and 1980 Olympics . Campbell Brown is one of only nine athletes to win world championships at the youth , junior , and senior level of an athletic event . She holds personal bests of 10.76 seconds for the 100 m and 21.74 seconds for the 200 m. She was the 100 m gold medallist at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics and the 200 m gold medallist at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics . She has also won seven silver medals and one bronze medal in her career at the World Championships in Athletics . Over 60 metres , she is a two-time champion at the IAAF World Indoor Championships .
Jamaica ( /dʒəˈmeɪkə/ ( listen ) ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea . Spanning 10,990 square kilometres ( 4,240 sq mi ) in area , it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean ( after Cuba and Hispaniola ) . Jamaica lies about 145 kilometres ( 90 mi ) south of Cuba , and 191 kilometres ( 119 mi ) west of Hispaniola ( the island containing the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic ) ; the British Overseas Territory of the Cayman Islands lies some 215 kilometres ( 134 mi ) to the north-west . Originally inhabited by the indigenous Arawak and Taíno peoples , the island came under Spanish rule following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1494 . Many of the indigenous people were either killed or died of diseases to which they had no immunity , and the Spanish thus forcibly transplanted large numbers of African slaves to Jamaica as labourers . The island remained a possession of Spain until 1655 , when England ( later Great Britain ) conquered it , renaming it Jamaica . Under British colonial rule Jamaica became a leading sugar exporter , with a plantation economy dependent on the African slaves and later their descendants . The British fully emancipated all slaves in 1838 , and many freedmen chose to have subsistence farms rather than to work on plantations . Beginning in the 1840s , the British began utilising Chinese and Indian indentured labour to work on plantations . The island achieved independence from the United Kingdom on 6 August 1962 . With 2.9 million people , Jamaica is the third-most populous Anglophone country in the Americas ( after the United States and Canada ) , and the fourth-most populous country in the Caribbean . Kingston is the country 's capital and largest city .
Asafa Powell , CD ( born 23 November 1982 ) is a Jamaican sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres . He set the 100 metres world record twice , between June 2005 and May 2008 with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds . Powell has consistently broken the 10-second barrier in competition , with his personal best of 9.72 s ranking fourth on the all-time list of male 100 metre athletes . As of 1 September 2016 , Powell has broken the ten-second barrier more times than anyone else - 97 times . He currently holds the world record for the 100 yard dash with a time of 9.09 s , set on 27 May 2010 in Ostrava , Czech Republic . At the 2016 Rio Olympic Games he won a gold medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay . Powell competed in the 100 m at the 2004 , 2008 and 2012 Olympics , finishing fifth in 2004 and 2008 and eighth after injuring his groin during the race in 2012 . At the 2007 Osaka World Championships , he won a bronze and a silver medal in the 100 m and 4 x 100 m relay respectively , and he was successful at the Commonwealth Games , winning two golds and one silver medal . At the 2009 World Championships , he won the 100 m bronze and relay gold . Powell has won five times at the IAAF World Athletics Final and was the former 100 m world record holder in the event . Powell had tested positive for the drug oxilofrine in 2013 and withdrew from the 2013 World Athletics Championships as a result . Powell and fellow Jamaican Sprinter , Sherone Simpson had taken the supplement Ephiphany D1 as part of their training regimen , not knowing it contained oxilofrine .
The 110 metres hurdles , or 110-metre hurdles , is a hurdling track and field event for men . It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games . The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles . As part of a racing event , ten hurdles of 1.067 metres ( 3.5 ft or 42 inches ) in height are evenly spaced along a straight course of 110 metres . They are positioned so that they will fall over if bumped into by the runner . Fallen hurdles do not carry a fixed time penalty for the runners , but they have a significant pull-over weight which slows down the run . Like the 100 metres sprint , the 110 metres hurdles begins in the starting blocks . For the 110 m hurdles , the first hurdle is placed after a run-up of 13.72 metres ( 45 ft ) from the starting line . The next nine hurdles are set at a distance of 9.14 metres ( 30 ft ) from each other , and the home stretch from the last hurdle to the finish line is 14.02 metres ( 46 ft ) long . The Olympic Games have included the 110 metre hurdles in their program since 1896 . The equivalent hurdles race for women was run over a course of 80 metres from 1932 to 1968 . Starting with the 1972 Summer Olympics , the women 's race was set at 100 metres .
Dayron Robles ( born 19 November 1986 ) is a Cuban track and field athlete who specialises in the 110 metre hurdles . He won his first major medal ( a silver ) in the 60 metres hurdles at the 2006 World Indoor Championships . He finished the 2006 season having improved his outdoor best to 13 seconds and become the Central American and Caribbean Games champion . Pan American gold came the following year in which also set a meet record of 12.92 seconds at the 2007 IAAF World Athletics Final - making him the joint fourth fastest ever . He reached the pinnacle of his event in 2008 by setting a world record of 12.87 seconds in June at the Golden Spike Ostrava meet , and winning an Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in 12.93 seconds . Injury ruled him out for much of 2009 , but he returned strongly with a championship record win at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships . He was disqualified at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics - Men 's 110 metres hurdles .
Cuba ( /ˈkjuːbə/ ( listen ) ; Spanish pronunciation : [ ˈkuβa ] ) , officially the Republic of Cuba ( Spanish : República de Cuba ( help·info ) ) , is a country comprising the island of Cuba as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos . Cuba is located in the northern Caribbean where the Caribbean Sea , Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean meet . It is east of the Yucatán Peninsula ( Mexico ) , south of both the U.S. state of Florida and the Bahamas , west of Haiti and north of both Jamaica and the Cayman Islands . Havana is the largest city and capital ; other major cities include Santiago de Cuba and Camagüey . The area of the Republic of Cuba is 110,860 square kilometers ( 42,800 sq mi ) ( 109,884 square kilometers ( 42,426 sq mi ) without the territorial waters ) . The island of Cuba is the largest island in Cuba and in the Caribbean , with an area of 105,006 square kilometers ( 40,543 sq mi ) , and the second-most populous after Hispaniola , with over 11 million inhabitants . The territory that is now Cuba was inhabited by the Ciboney Taíno people from the 4th millennium BC until Spanish colonization in the 15th century . From the 15th century , it was a colony of Spain until the Spanish-American War of 1898 , when Cuba was occupied by the United States and gained nominal independence as a de facto United States protectorate in 1902 . As a fragile republic , in 1940 Cuba attempted to strengthen its democratic system , but mounting political radicalization and social strife culminated in a coup and subsequent dictatorship under Fulgencio Batista in 1952 . Open corruption and oppression under Batista 's rule led to his ousting in January 1959 by the 26th of July Movement , which afterwards established communist rule under the leadership of Fidel Castro . Since 1965 , the state has been governed by the Communist Party of Cuba . The country was a point of contention during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States , and a nuclear war nearly broke out during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 .
The one hour run is an athletics event in which competitors try to cover as much distance as possible within one hour . While officially recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations as a track event , it is rarely contested apart from occasional world record attempts . The event has a long history , with first recorded races dating back to the late 17th century . The first athlete to run more than 20 kilometers in one hour was Emil Zátopek , in September 1951 . Zátopek also set the 20,000 meters world record in the same race , and since that time most men 's 20,000 m world records were set en route to one hour world records . The men 's world record is 21,285 metres ( 13.226 mi ) , set by Haile Gebrselassie on 27 June 2007 , while the women 's world record is 18,517 metres ( 11.506 mi ) , set by Dire Tune on 12 June 2008 .
Dire Tune Arissi ( pronounced Deer-ay Too-nay ; Ge'ez : ዲሬ ቱኔ , born 19 June 1985 ) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner . Tune competed in the marathon at the 2005 World Championships . At the 2006 World Road Running Championships she finished fourth in the individual competition . This was good enough to help Ethiopia win a silver medal in the team competition . On April 21 , 2008 , Tune won the Boston Marathon with a time of 2:25:25 . She was then selected to represent her country in the marathon at the 2008 Summer Olympics , and was the only Ethiopian to finish , placing 15th in a time of 2:31:16 . In April 2009 , Tune finished second by one second in the Boston Marathon with a time of 2:32:17 . After finishing the race , she collapsed and had to be taken to the hospital . Her agent said the problem was due in part to dehydration combined with the cool weather and the fact that she trained for a shorter race . Dire Tune holds the One Hour running world record of 18.517 kilometres set June 12 , 2008 in Ostrava . The previous record ( 18,340 m ) was set by Tegla Loroupe ten years earlier . Tune won the 2009 Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon , setting the Ethiopian half marathon record of 1:07:18 .
Ethiopia ( /ˌiːθiˈoʊpiə/ ; Amharic : ኢትዮጵያ , ʾĪtyōṗṗyā , listen ( help·info ) , Tigrinya : ኢትዮጵያ , Oromo : Itiyoophiyaa , Somali : Itoobiya , Afar : Itiyoophiyaa ) , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia , is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa . It shares borders with Eritrea to the north , Djibouti to the northeast , Somalia , and the de facto state of Somaliland to the east , Kenya to the south , South Sudan to the west and Sudan to the northwest . With over 109 million inhabitants , Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in the world and the second-most populous nation on the African continent with a total area of 1,100,000 square kilometres ( 420,000 sq mi ) . Its capital and largest city is Addis Ababa , which lies a few miles west of the East African Rift that splits the country into the Nubian and Somali tectonic plates . Some of the oldest skeletal evidence for anatomically modern humans has been found in Ethiopia . It is widely considered as the region from which modern humans first set out for the Middle East and places beyond . According to linguists , the first Afroasiatic-speaking populations settled in the Horn region during the ensuing Neolithic era . Tracing its roots to the 2nd millennium BCE , Ethiopia 's governmental system was a monarchy for most of its history . Oral literature tells that the monarchy was founded by the Solomonic dynasty of the Queen of Sheba , under its first king , Menelik I . In the first centuries , the Kingdom of Aksum maintained a unified civilization in the region , followed by the Ethiopian Empire circa 1137 . During the late 19th-century Scramble for Africa , Ethiopia and Liberia were two nations that preserved their sovereignty from long-term colonisation by a European colonial power and many newly-independent nations on the continent subsequently adopted its flag colours . However , the country was later occupied by Italy in 1936 and became Italian Ethiopia ( part of Italian East Africa ) until it was liberated during World War II .
The 20,000 metres ( approximately 12.43 mi or 65,617 ft ) is a rarely contested long-distance running event in track and field competitions ; most world records in the event have been set during half marathons and one-hour races , as a half marathon is roughly 21,000 meters .
Haile Gebrselassie ( Amharic : ኃይሌ ገብረ ሥላሴ , haylē gebre silassē ; born 18 April 1973 ) is a retired Ethiopian long-distance track and road running athlete . He won two Olympic gold medals over 10,000 metres and four World Championship titles in the event . He won the Berlin Marathon four times consecutively and also had three straight wins at the Dubai Marathon . Further to this , he won four world titles indoors and was the 2001 World Half Marathon Champion . Haile had major competition wins at distances between 1500 metres and the marathon , moving from outdoor , indoor and cross country running to road running in the latter part of his career . He broke 61 Ethiopian national records ranging from 800 metres to the marathon , set 27 world records , and is regarded as one of the greatest distance runners in history . In September 2008 , at the age of 35 , he won the Berlin Marathon with a world record time of 2:03:59 , breaking his own world record by 27 seconds . The record stood for three years . Since he was over the age of 35 , that mark stood as the Masters Age group world record until 29 September 2019 , when fellow Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele ran 2:01:41 at the age of 37 . Gebrselassie 's 10000 m Masters record has not been challenged since 2008 .
The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event . The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics and is common at championship level events . The race consists of 25 laps around an Olympic-sized track . It is less commonly held at track and field meetings , due to its duration . The 10,000-metre track race is usually distinguished from its road running counterpart , the 10K run , by its reference to the distance in metres rather than kilometres . The 10,000 metres is the longest standard track event . The international distance is approximately 6.2137 miles ( or approximately 32,808.4 feet ) . Most of those running such races also compete in road races and cross country events .
Kenenisa Bekele ( Oromo : Qananiisaa baqqalaa ; Amharic : ቀነኒሳ በቀለ ; born 13 June 1982 ) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner and the current world record and Olympic record holder in both the 5000-metre and 10,000-metre events . He won the gold medal in both the 5000 m and 10,000 m events at the 2008 Summer Olympics . At the 2004 Olympics he won the gold medal in the 10,000 m and the silver medal in the 5000 m. He is married to actress Danawit Gebregziabher and he has one younger brother , Tariku Bekele , who is also an accomplished world-class distance runner . He is the most successful runner in the history of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships , with six long ( 12 km ) course and five short ( 4 km ) course titles . He won the 10,000 m title at the World Championships in Athletics in 2003 , 2005 , 2007 and 2009 ( matching Haile Gebrselassie 's four in a row win streak ) . Kenenisa was unbeaten over 10,000 m from his debut in 2003 until 2011 , when he failed to finish at the World Championships final . At the 2009 World Championships in Athletics he became the first man to win both 5000 m and 10,000 m title at the same championships . Over 5000 m he has also won an Olympic silver ( 2004 ) , World Championship bronze ( 2003 ) , two African Championship titles and one All-Africa Games gold medal . He also won the 3000 metres title at the 2006 World Indoor Championships . On 6 April 2014 , he produced the sixth fastest marathon debut ever on a record-eligible course with his victory at the Paris Marathon , in a course record time of 2:05:04 . On 25 September 2016 , Kenenisa won the Berlin Marathon in a time of 2:03:03 , a new personal best , then the third-fastest marathon of all time . On 29 September 2019 , he again won the Berlin Marathon in a time of 2:01:41 , two seconds slower than the world record of 2:01:39 set by Eliud Kipchoge in the 2018 Berlin Marathon .
Pole vaulting is a track and field event in which a person uses a long flexible pole ( which today is usually made either of fiberglass or carbon fiber ) as an aid to jump over a bar . Pole jumping competitions were known to the ancient Greeks , Cretans and Celts . It has been a full medal event at the Olympic Games since 1896 for men and since 2000 for women . It is typically classified as one of the four major jumping events in athletics , alongside the high jump , long jump and triple jump . It is unusual among track and field sports in that it requires a significant amount of specialised equipment in order to participate , even at a basic level . A number of elite pole vaulters have had backgrounds in gymnastics , including world record breakers Yelena Isinbayeva and Brian Sternberg , reflecting the similar physical attributes required for the sports . Running speed , however , may be the most dominant factor . Physical attributes such as speed , agility and strength are essential to pole vaulting effectively , but technical skill is an equally if not more important element . The object of pole vaulting is to clear a bar or crossbar supported upon two uprights ( standards ) without knocking it down .
Stacy Renée Dragila ( née Mikaelson ; born 25 March 1971 in Auburn , California ) is an American former pole vaulter .
The United States of America ( USA ) , commonly known as the United States ( U.S. or US ) or America , is a country consisting of 50 states , a federal district , five major self-governing territories , and various possessions . [ g ] At 3.8 million square miles ( 9.8 million km2 ) , it is the world 's third or fourth-largest country by total area [ b ] and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe . Most of the country is located in central North America between Canada and Mexico . With an estimated population of over 328 million , the U.S. is the third most populous country in the world . The capital is Washington , D.C. , and the most populous city is New York City . Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago . European colonization began in the 16th century . The United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast . Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies led to the American Revolutionary War lasting between 1775 and 1783 , leading to independence . The United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century - gradually acquiring new territories , displacing Native Americans , and admitting new states - until by 1848 it spanned the continent . During the second half of the 19th century , the American Civil War led to the abolition of slavery in the United States . The Spanish-American War and World War I confirmed the country 's status as a global military power .
The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field . It is an obstacle race over the distance of the 3000 metres , which derives its name from the horse racing steeplechase .
Alesia Turava ( Belarusian : Алеся Турава ; born 6 December 1979 ) is a Belarusian middle distance runner . She is a former world record holder in 3000 metre steeplechase with 9:16.51 minutes , achieved in Gdansk on 27 July 2002 . Still , Turava mostly competes over 1500 metres . Her sister , Ryta Turava , also competes in the sport of athletics ( 20 km race walk ) .
Belarus ( /bɛləˈruːs/ ; Belarusian : Беларусь , IPA : [ bʲɛlaˈrusʲ ] ) , officially the Republic of Belarus ( Belarusian : Рэспубліка Беларусь , Russian : Республика Беларусь ) , formerly known by its Russian name Byelorussia or Belorussia ( Russian : Белоруссия ) , is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia to the northeast , Ukraine to the south , Poland to the west , and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest . Its capital and most populous city is Minsk . Over 40% of its 207,600 square kilometres ( 80,200 sq mi ) is forested . Its major economic sectors are service industries and manufacturing . Until the 20th century , different states at various times controlled the lands of modern-day Belarus , including the Principality of Polotsk ( 11th to 14th centuries ) , the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth , and the Russian Empire . In the aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution , Belarus declared independence as the Belarusian People 's Republic , which was conquered by Soviet Russia . The Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia became a founding constituent republic of the Soviet Union in 1922 and was renamed as the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic ( Byelorussian SSR ) . Belarus lost almost half of its territory to Poland after the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-1921 . Much of the borders of Belarus took their modern shape in 1939 , when some lands of the Second Polish Republic were reintegrated into it after the Soviet invasion of Poland , and were finalized after World War II . During WWII , military operations devastated Belarus , which lost about a quarter of its population and half of its economic resources . The republic was redeveloped in the post-war years . In 1945 the Byelorussian SSR became a founding member of the United Nations , along with the Soviet Union and the Ukrainian SSR .
Daniela Bártová-Břečková ( Czech pronunciation : [ ˈdanɪjɛla ˈbaːrtovaː ˈbr̝ɛtʃkovaː ] ) ( born 6 May 1974 ) is a retired Czech athlete . She was born in Ostrava . Originally a gymnast , her coach persuaded her to be a pole vaulter . She set nine world records in the mid-1990s , but she lost it on 4 November 1995 to Sun Caiyun and was unable to recapture it . Her personal best is 4.51 m ( Bratislava , Slovakia , 9 June 1998 ) . Despite her success she only won one international medal , a silver medal at the 1998 European Indoor Championships . As a gymnast , she represented the Czech Republic at the 1991 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships , placing 33rd in the all-around event , also took part in the all-around team event at the 1992 Summer Olympics . Bártová is married to flatwater canoer Jan Břečka .
The Czech Republic ( /ˈtʃɛk -/ ( listen ) ; Czech : Česká republika [ ˈtʃɛskaː ˈrɛpublɪka ] ( listen ) ) , also known by its short-form name , Czechia ( /ˈtʃɛkiə/ ( listen ) ; Czech : Česko [ ˈtʃɛsko ] ( listen ) ) , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Poland to the northeast , Slovakia to the southeast , Austria to the south , and Germany to the west . The Czech Republic is a landlocked country with a hilly landscape that covers an area of 78,866 square kilometers ( 30,450 sq mi ) with a mostly temperate continental climate and oceanic climate . It is a unitary parliamentary republic , with 10.7 million inhabitants . Its capital and largest city is Prague , with 1.3 million residents ; other major cities are Brno , Ostrava , Olomouc and Pilsen . The Czech Republic includes the historical territories of Bohemia , Moravia , and Czech Silesia . The Czech state was formed in the late ninth century as the Duchy of Bohemia under the Great Moravian Empire . In 1002 , the duchy was formally recognized as an Imperial State of the Holy Roman Empire along with the Kingdom of Germany , the Kingdom of Burgundy , the Kingdom of Italy ; and became the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198 , reaching its greatest territorial extent in the 14th century . Prague was the imperial seat in periods between the 14th and 17th century . The Protestant Bohemian Reformation of the 15th century led to the Hussite Wars , the first of many conflicts with the Catholic Church . Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526 , the whole Crown of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy . The Protestant Bohemian Revolt ( 1618-20 ) against the Catholic Habsburgs led to the Thirty Years ' War . After the Battle of the White Mountain , the Habsburgs consolidated their rule , eradicated Protestantism , reimposed Catholicism , and adopted a policy of gradual Germanization .
The 100 metres , or 100-metre dash , is a sprint race in track and field competitions . The shortest common outdoor running distance , it is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics . It has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1928 for women . The World Championships 100 metres has been contested since 1983 .
Silvio Leonard Sarría also known as Silvio Leonard Tartabull ( born September 20 , 1955 in Cienfuegos ) is a former sprinter from Cuba .
Renate Stecher ( née Meißner , born 12 May 1950 ) is a German ( former East German ) sprint runner and a triple Olympic champion . She held 34 world records and was the first woman to run 100 meters within 11 seconds .
East Germany , officially the German Democratic Republic ( GDR ; German : Deutsche Demokratische Republik [ ˈdɔʏtʃə demoˈkʁaːtɪʃə ʁepuˈbliːk ] , DDR ) , was a state that existed from 1949 to 1990 , the period when the eastern portion of Germany was part of the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War . Commonly described as a communist state in English usage , it described itself as a socialist workers ' and peasants ' state . It consisted of territory that was administered and occupied by Soviet forces following the end of World War II - the Soviet occupation zone of the Potsdam Agreement , bounded on the east by the Oder-Neisse line . The Soviet zone surrounded West Berlin but did not include it ; as a result , West Berlin remained outside the jurisdiction of the GDR . The German Democratic Republic was established in the Soviet zone , while the Federal Republic was established in the three western zones . East Germany was a satellite state of the Soviet Union . Soviet occupation authorities began transferring administrative responsibility to German communist leaders in 1948 , and the GDR began to function as a state on 7 October 1949 . However , Soviet forces remained in the country throughout the Cold War . Until 1989 , the GDR was governed by the Socialist Unity Party ( SED ) , though other parties nominally participated in its alliance organisation , the National Front . The SED made the teaching of Marxism-Leninism and the Russian language compulsory in schools . The economy was centrally planned and increasingly state-owned . Prices of housing , basic goods and services were set by central government planners rather than rising and falling through supply and demand ; and were heavily subsidised .
Emil Zátopek ( Czech pronunciation : [ ˈɛmɪl ˈzaːtopɛk ] ( listen ) ; 19 September 1922 - 22 November 2000 ) was a Czechoslovak long-distance runner best known for winning three gold medals at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki . He won gold in the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres runs , but his final medal came when he decided at the last minute to compete in the first marathon of his life . He was nicknamed the Czech Locomotive . In 1954 , Zátopek was the first runner to break the 29-minute barrier in the 10,000 metres . Three years earlier in 1951 , he had broken the hour for running 20 km . He was considered one of the greatest runners of the 20th century and was also known for his brutally tough training methods . He was the originator of interval training and hypoventilation training . In February 2013 , the editors at Runner 's World Magazine selected him as the Greatest Runner of All Time . He is the only person to win the 5,000 metres ( 24 July , 1952 ) , 10,000 metres ( 20 July , 1952 ) and Marathon ( 27 July , 1952 ) , in the same Olympic Games .
Czechoslovakia , or Czecho-Slovakia ( /ˌtʃɛkoʊsloʊˈvækiə , -kə- , -slə- , -ˈvɑː-/ ; Czech and Slovak : Československo , Česko-Slovensko ) , was a sovereign state in Central Europe that existed from October 1918 , when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire , until its peaceful dissolution into the Czech Republic and Slovakia on 1 January 1993 . From 1939 to 1945 , following its forced division and partial incorporation into Nazi Germany , the state did not de facto exist but its government-in-exile continued to operate . From 1948 to 1990 , Czechoslovakia was part of the Eastern Bloc with a command economy . Its economic status was formalized in membership of Comecon from 1949 and its defense status in the Warsaw Pact of May 1955 . A period of political liberalization in 1968 , known as the Prague Spring , was forcibly ended when the Soviet Union , assisted by several other Warsaw Pact countries , invaded Czechoslovakia . In 1989 , as Marxist-Leninist governments and socialism were ending all over Europe , Czechoslovaks peacefully deposed their government in the Velvet Revolution ; state price controls were removed after a period of preparation . In 1993 , Czechoslovakia split into the two sovereign states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia .