Barbora Špotáková seen as prime Czech hope for Rio Olympics medal

The Olympic games start in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro on Friday with Czech hopes high that they can at least equal the medal tally from the last games in London four years ago. Many Czech hopes are focused on javelin thrower Barbora Špotáková and whether she can make it three Olympics golds in a row.

Photo: ČTK

How many times will the Czech anthem be played at the Rio Olympics? That’s perhaps one of the main questions ahead of the opening ceremony.

For the Czech Olympic Committee, the official response this time round is that less is more and that with one of the smallest Olympic contingents ever, just 105 men and women, they can at least equal the 10 medals from London. Four of those were gold.

Martina Sáblíková, photo: Czech TV

The number of Czech competitors is still not final with Martina Sáblíkova still waiting in the sidelines on whether she will be given a late entry for the cycling time trial event.

In fact, the less is more formula has worked before. What was previously the smallest Czech squad at the Atlanta games in 1996 actually came home with the most medals, a total of 11 in all. The most Czechs competed at the Athens Olympics in 2004 but only came home with nine medals.

Barbora Špotáková, photo: ČTK

Much Czech attention this time round will be on women’s javelin thrower Barbora Špotáková with the big question mark whether at 35 she can pull off a third Olympic gold in a row after previous wins at the London and Beijing games. A survey by the GfK agency showed just over 70 percent of respondent believe Špotáková is the best Czech medal hope, followed by hurdler Zuzana Heynová.

But Špotáková has not had the best run into the Olympics after recovering for much of the first half of the year from an injury. But she has recently thrown over 66 metres at the Czech Championships and at a German meeting suggesting that she is a serious medal contender for the big events.

Miroslava Topinková-Knapková (right), photo: ČTK

Fellow gold medal winners from London, Cross country cyclist Jaroslav Kulhavý recently confirmed he is likely challenger for gold again after coming second in the World Championships

Rower Miroslava Topinková-Knapková, now at her fourth Olympics, says she is not a favourite for medals this time round but still wants to get into the finals. It’s likely to be her swansong competition.

Pentathlete David Svoboda won gold with a new record number of points in London but has not had the easiest build up.

Pavel Maslák, photo: ČTK

Four hundred metres hurdler Zuzana Heynová, a bronze medalist from London, has suffered an achilles heel injury this season and has few competitive starts. But she is nonetheless upbeat about her chances to improve on her past medal at Rio.

On the track, 400 metres specialist Pavel Maslák has a big following but is probably at best an outside medal hope.

Czech competitors are also expected to perform strongly in the water slalom, shooting, and judo events. But the tie for some of the Czech judo competitors has not been that kind.