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Today we reveal the answer to our August question and announce the names of the four lucky winners who will receive small prizes from Radio Prague. We quote from e-mails sent by: Catherine Kraina, Howard Golden, Paul R. Peacock, Zenon Teles, Constantin Liviu Viorel, Christine Takaguchi-Coates and Marcel Voracka.
As usual on the first Sunday of the month, we are going to reveal the answer to last month's competition question and announce the names of the four lucky winners. Although the summer months are a holiday time in much of the world, we appreciate that you did find the time to research and answer our question. The name of the Czech-born tennis, soccer and ice hockey player, born in 1895, who was this year inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame is not Hana Mandlikova, nor Mathilde Octavie as some of you guessed.
Here's a brief answer from Catherine Kraina from Australia:
"The fabulous all-rounder was Karel Kozeluh."
Howard Golden who lives in Prague elaborated on the topic some more:
"In response to your question, in the class of 2006, the International Tennis Hall of Fame inducted Karel Kozeluh, who was born in Prague on my birthday, only a few years earlier, on March 7, 1895. He was a soccer player who became a tennis pro and was the French Pro Singles Champion from 1925 to 1930 and again in 1932. He was the European Pro Tour Champion in 1932, and won the U.S. Pro Singles Championships three times. In 1925 he captured the World Professional Tennis title. This all according to the International tennis Hall of Fame. He died on April 27, 1950 and was described as 'the Fred Astaire of the courts, with faultless ground strokes and a safecracker's touch at net.'"
Paul R. Peacock listens to us in Brisbane, Australia:
"At first one may wonder why a Czech soccer and ice hockey player would be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Well, this particular Czech sportsman was an all round athlete and in fact was also a top Czech tennis player. It was none other than Karel Kozeluh."
After listing all Karel Kozeluh's sporting achievements, Mr Peacock concludes:
"Unfortunately he died in 1950, not of natural causes, but man made. Outside Prague he was killed in a motor accident. This year, 2006, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, a fitting honour for such a true champion and all-round athlete."
And Zenon Teles from Goa, India, had this to add:
"Kozeluh, one of the world's best players in the 1920s and the 1930s, joined his younger Czech colleagues Jan Kodes, Hana Mandlikova, Jaroslav Drobny, Ivan Lendl, Martina Navratilova and Jana Novotna."
Constantin Liviu Viorel listens to us in Romania:
"Karel Kozeluh began his career with rugby and at the age of 16 he learned to play tennis. He also was a soccer and ice hockey player in the years 1920 to 1930. He played soccer for some Czech clubs like Sparta Praha, D F C Prague, Teplitzer F K and also for the Austrian national team. He became a Czech citizen after the 1st World War and played also for the Czechoslovak national soccer team. In 1925 he won the European championship with the Czechoslovakia ice hockey team. He died in a car accident near Prague in 1950."
Christine Takaguchi-Coates who is originally from Britain but now follows Radio Prague in Japan had this to say:
"Karel Kozeluh is the name of the Czech-born soccer, ice hockey and tennis player who has just become the seventh Czech to be inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame. The other six are more recent big names - Jan Kodes, Hana Mandlikova, Jaroslav Drobny, Ivan Lendl, Martina Navratilova and Jana Novotna. Just seeing these names brings back memories of many hours spent in front of the television watching Wimbledon on a summer day at home in the UK."
And Mrs Takaguchi-Coates continues:
"His younger brother, Jan Kozeluh was also a tennis player, and on at least one occasion (North Carolina, in April 1938) played against (and lost to) his older brother in the final of a tennis tournament. In the same tournament, the two brothers were also runners-up in the doubles match. May I also take this opportunity to congratulate your Czech athletes on their performance at the European Athletic Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden."
And finally, Marcel Voracka from Illinois sent us this answer:
"The name of the recent hall of fame inductee is Karel Kozeluh. Keep up the great programming. I really enjoy your show, but I always have to make sure to turn down the radio before the sports on Monday since they don't appreciate the loud yelling of Goal at work. Hehehe."
And this month, the prizes go to Marcel Voracka and Stephen Price, both from United States, Constantin Liviu Viorel from Romania, and Howard Golden from the Czech Republic. Congratulations and if your name wasn't drawn this time, why don't you try and answer our question for September.
"This month we would like you to tell us the name of the world-famous physicist who was born in 1838 in what is now the Czech Republic's second city of Brno and has a unit named after him which is used to define the speed of a moving object relative to the speed of sound."
I apologise if the definition is not scientifically correct but at least I hope it is understandable. Please, send us your answer by the end of the month to [email protected] or Radio Prague, 12099 Prague, Czech Republic. There will be small prizes for four of you.
Photos: Autobiography written by Karel Kozeluh in 1949.
