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| European season leader in the men's heptathlon Roman Sebrle of the Czech Republic. |
Czech Republic will send 16 athletes to the 2011 European Athletics Championships in Paris next week, including all three of its medallist from two years ago in Torino.
At the 2009 European Athletics Indoor Championships, hurdlers
Lucie Å krobáková and Petr Svoboda took the silver and bronze medals in the women’s and men’s 60m hurdles respectively while Roman Å ebrle finished third in the men’s heptathlon.
Multi-events legend Å ebrle, the only man to go over 9000 points in decathlon outdoors, remains at the top of his profession despite being 36 years-old. He leads this winter’s European heptathlon lists with 6117 points.
The 2004 Olympic Games decathlon champion will looking for his fourth gold medal at the European Athletics Championships after having won in 2002, 2005 and 2007.
Svoboda is unbeaten in six competitions and once again goes to a major championship as the top-ranked European hurdler.
He will be hoping to avoid the same fate that he suffered in last summer’s European Athletics Championships 100m hurdles final when he was leading at the halfway point only to suffer technical problems and finish sixth.
The silver medal success of Å krobáková was a slight surprise in Torino but minor injuries this winter mean that another trip to the podium would be an even bigger one in Paris.
In addition to three Torino medallists, another athlete in the Czech team who knows what it is like to have a European Athletics Indoor Championships medal hung around her neck is Denisa Rosolová.
Under her maiden name of Scerbová, she won a long jump bronze medal four years ago in Birmingham but since then has converted successfully into a very good 400m runner.
She will arrive in Paris ranked fifth among the entries and stands a chance of again of getting among the medals.
The other most likely medal contenders in the Czech team are 800m runner Jakub Holuša, who is also entered for the 1500m, and pole vaulter Ji…™ina Ptáčníková
Holuša is the fifth fastest European over four laps of the track this winter and the 2007 European Athletics Junior Championships 3000m steeplechase gold medallist has already shown that he can adapt to the more physical requirements of indoor 800m running by finishing fifth at the 2010 World Indoor Championships.
Ptáčníková, Svoboda’s girlfriend, was a consistent performer on the big occasions last year and finished fifth at both the World Indoor Championships and European Athletics Championships.
The 2004 Olympic Games men’s high jump bronze medallist Jaroslav Bába has never won a medal at these Championships but he went close in 2005 when he finished fourth.
The complete Czech Republic team (with best marks this season) is:
Men
60m - Jan Veleba 6.65 & Libor …½ilka 6.67
400m - Pavel Maslák 47.05
800m - Jakub Holuša 1:46.53
1500 m - Jakub Holuša no mark
60m hurdles - Petr Svoboda 7.48
high jump - Jaroslav Bába 2.30m
long jump - Roman Novotný 8.01m & Å t„›pán Wagner 7.94m
heptathlon - Roman Å ebrle 6117 points
Women
60m - Kate…™ina „Œechová 7.33
400m - Denisa Rosolová - 52.21
800m - Lenka Masná - 2:02.12
60m hurdles - Lucie Å krobáková - 8.07
pole vault - Ji…™ina Ptáčníková 4.60m
pentathlon - Eliška Klučinová 6268 points in 2010 heptathlon & Zuzana Hejnová 4406 points.