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Nineteen-year-old Czech athlete Michal Rada became junior world champion in the 400 metres hurdles in Eugene, winning in a European junior record of 48.59 seconds. He improved on his silver medal from the previous championship in Lima.

Rada was the fastest at every split and finished 0.64 seconds ahead of Japan’s Taiju Gotō, the favourite for the title. He also improved his personal best from last year by 0.19 seconds, breaking the European junior record that had stood since 1984.

Rada’s gold was the fourth medal for the Czech team in Eugene. Pole vaulter Nicole Krutilová also won gold, while decathlete Adam Juliš took bronze and the mixed 4x400-metre relay won silver.

Two groups of Czech tourists were rescued by helicopters in the Austrian Alps over the weekend. In one case, four Czechs got into trouble during a hike near Traunstein. In the other, a Czech family needed help on a via ferrata on the Grosser Donnerkogel mountain.

The group of four had planned their route to the Traunsee via ferrata using an app. When they realised the ferrata was too difficult for them, they decided to descend to the valley via an unmarked trail. They became lost at an altitude of 1,249 metres and called for help.

The second group, a family, took a wrong turn while descending from the summit of Grosser Donnerkogel. Their 10-year-old daughter became increasingly exhausted, and they also called for help. All the tourists were safely taken down to the valley.

Czech rider Filip Salač won the Moto2 race at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone on Sunday, securing his first World Championship victory and the first for a Czech rider in 16 years. The 24-year-old took the lead on the final lap and finished ahead of Spain’s Iván Ortolá and Álex Escrig.

Salač recorded the sixth podium finish of his career and his third this season. He had previously finished second in Hungary and third at his home race in Brno.

The last Czech rider to win a World Championship race was Karel Abraham, who took the Moto2 victory in Valencia in 2010.

A partial solar eclipse will be visible in Czechia on Wednesday evening, August 12. Special programmes will be held at observatories and planetariums, as well as places including an airport, an artillery fortress and the terrace of the Ještěd transmitter. The Perseid meteor shower will also be visible after dark.

In Olomouc, the eclipse can be watched from the roof of the Faculty of Science using special astronomical telescopes and an H-alpha filter. The programme will also include talks, guided observations and a live stream of a total solar eclipse from Spain. Admission is free.

People can also watch the eclipse independently from a location with a clear view towards the northwest. Astronomers warn that special glasses or filters must be used to protect the eyes when looking at the Sun.