page_title: Czech Republic
section_title: Sports
hierarchical_section_title: Czech Republic / Culture / Sports
caption_attribution_description: English: KHL Lev Praha vs. Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (2014) in Prague O2 arenaČeština: Lev Praha vs. Lokomotiv Jaroslavl (2014) v O2 aréně
context_page_description: The Czech Republic, also known by its short-form name, Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast and Slovakia to the southeast. The Czech Republic has hilly landscape that covers an area of 78,866 square kilometers 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 include Brno, Ostrava, Olomouc and Plzeň.
  The Czech state was formed in the late 9th 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, 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 Bohemian Reformation of the 15th century led to the Hussite Wars, which resulted in a period of confessional pluralism and relative religious tolerance.
context_section_description: Sports play a part in the life of many Czechs, who are generally loyal supporters of their favorite teams or individuals. The two leading sports in the Czech Republic are ice hockey and football. The most watched events in the Czech Republic are Olympic Ice hockey tournaments and Ice Hockey World Championships. Tennis is also a very popular sport in the Czech Republic. The many other sports with professional leagues and structures include basketball, volleyball, team handball, track and field athletics and floorball.
  The country has won 14 gold medals in summer (plus 49 as Czechoslovakia) and five gold medals (plus two as Czechoslovakia) in winter Olympic history. Famous Olympians are Věra Čáslavská, Emil Zátopek, Jan Železný, Barbora Špotáková, Martina Sáblíková, Martin Doktor, Štěpánka Hilgertová or Kateřina Neumannová. Sports legends are also runner Jarmila Kratochvílová or chess-player Wilhelm Steinitz.
  Czech hockey school has a good reputation. The Czech ice hockey team won the gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics and has won twelve gold medals at the World Championships (including 6 as Czechoslovakia), including three straight from 1999 to 2001. Former NHL superstars Jaromír Jágr and Dominik Hašek are among the best known Czech hockey players of all time as well as current Czech NHL star David Pastrňák of the Boston Bruins.
  The Czechoslovakia national football team was a consistent performer on the international scene, with eight appearances in the FIFA World Cup Finals, finishing in second place in 1934 and 1962. The team also won the European Football Championship in 1976, came in third in 1980 and won the Olympic gold in 1980. After dissolution of Czechoslovakia, the Czech national football team finished in second (1996) and third (2004) place at the European Football Championship. The most famous Czech footballers were Oldřich Nejedlý, Antonín Puč, František Plánička, Josef Bican, Josef Masopust (Ballon d'or 1962), Ladislav Novák, Svatopluk Pluskal, Antonín Panenka, Ivo Viktor, Pavel Nedvěd (Ballon d'or 2003), Karel Poborský, Vladimír Šmicer, Jan Koller, Milan Baroš, Marek Jankulovski, Tomáš Rosický and Petr Čech.
  The Czech Republic also has a great influence in tennis, with such players as Karolína Plíšková, Tomáš Berdych, Jan Kodeš, Jaroslav Drobný, Hana Mandlíková, Wimbledon Women's Singles winners Petra Kvitová and Jana Novotná, 8-time Grand Slam singles champion Ivan Lendl, and 18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova.
  The Czech Republic men's national volleyball team won a silver medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics and two gold medals in the FIVB Volleyball World Championship in 1956 and 1966. Czech Republic women's national basketball team won the EuroBasket 2005 Women. Czechoslovakia national basketball team won EuroBasket 1946. Czech Republic will host the EuroBasket 2021 along with Georgia (Tbilisi), Germany (Berlin, Cologne) and Italy (Milan). It will take place in Prague for the Group Phase matches. Czech Republic hosted the EuroBasket Women 2017 recently.
  The Škoda Motorsport is engaged in competition racing since 1901, and has gained a number of titles with various vehicles around the world. MTX automobile company was formerly engaged in the manufacture of racing and formula cars since 1969. Czech Republic MotoGP is the most famous motor race in the country.
  Sport is a source of strong waves of patriotism, usually rising several days or weeks before an event. The events considered the most important by Czech fans are: the Ice Hockey World Championships, Olympic Ice hockey tournament, UEFA European Football Championship, UEFA Champions League, FIFA World Cup and qualification matches for such events. In general, any international match of the Czech ice hockey or football national team draws attention, especially when played against a traditional rival.
  Czechs are also generally keen on engaging in sports activities themselves. One of the most popular sports Czechs do is hiking, mainly in the mountains. The word for "tourist" in the Czech language, turista, also means "trekker" or "hiker". Fo
caption: Ice hockey is the most popular sport in the Czech Republic, pictured O2 Arena in Prague is the second-largest ice hockey arena in Europe
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