• Zelezny quits top-class competition
    08/30/2004

    The Czech javelin thrower Jan Zelezny announced on Sunday an end to his sparkling career after a disappointing ninth place in Athens, his fifth Olympic Games. Zelezny, 38, said that he may take part in several exhibitions or smaller events but the world championship or even the Olympic Games are no longer for him. In Athens, Zelezny was seeking a fourth successive Olympic gold and a fifth successive Olympic medal, but finished ninth with 80.59 metres, lagging well behind his season best of 86.12. Three days ago Jan Zelezny was re-elected to the International Olympic Committee's Athletes' Commission.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Fourteenth suspected case of BSE reported in Czech Republic
    08/30/2004

    Another suspected case of BSE or mad cow disease has been reported at a farm in Hrejkovice, South Bohemia. The animal suspected of suffering from the condition is an eight-year-old cow. The State Veterinary Office says the results of the control tests will be available later this week. If confirmed, it would be the Czech Republic's eleventh case of the disease since 2001.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Gross attends ceremony to mark Slovak National Uprising on first trip as PM
    08/29/2004

    The Czech prime minister, Stanislav Gross, was among 2,000 guests who gathered at a memorial to the Slovak National Uprising in Banska Bystrica on Sunday. Mr Gross met his Slovak counterpart Mikulas Dzurinda at the ceremony; it was his first trip abroad since being appointed prime minister at the end of July. Following the anti-fascist Slovak National Uprising which began on August 29, 1944 the Nazis launched a reign of terror in Slovakia, killing approximately 20,000 people.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Black weekend on Czech roads, at least 17 dead
    08/29/2004

    It has been a black weekend on the Czech Republic's roads, with at least 17 people dying in road accidents. In the worst single crash, six people died in the earlier hours of Saturday morning when their car collided head-on with a van. The last weekend of the summer holidays sees high numbers of road deaths every year.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Irish opposition calls for "Pirate of Prague" Kozeny to lose Irish passport
    08/29/2004

    An Irish opposition party has called for the rescinding of the Irish citizenship of Viktor Kozeny, a Czech man wanted for large scale fraud in the Czech Republic and the United States. Joe Costello of the Labour Party said the fact people like Mr Kozeny held an Irish passport could create the impression Ireland was a safe haven for "international crooks". Mr Kozeny, who lives in the Bahamas and has been dubbed "the Pirate of Prague", has held an Irish passport since 1995.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Zelezny bows out of Olympics with disappointing ninth place in javelin
    08/29/2004

    Jan Zelezny, who took gold in the javelin at the last three Olympics, came a disappointing ninth at the Athens Games on Saturday evening. The 38-year-old, who is widely regarded as the greatest athlete in the history of the javelin, threw 80.59 metres, some way short of the world record of 98.48 metres he set in 1996. The Czech team has won a total of eight medals in Athens, including one gold, for Roman Sebrle in the decathlon.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Galasek likely to miss first World Cup qualifier
    08/29/2004

    Footballer Tomas Galasek is injured and likely to miss the Czech Republic's first qualifying game for the 2006 World Cup, which is away to Holland on September 6. The 31-year-old midfielder injured an ankle during training for his club Ajax Amsterdam on Saturday.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czech TV: Telicka considering leaving the civil service
    08/28/2004

    Public broadcaster Czech TV has reported that the Czech Republic's current Commissioner to the European Union, Pavel Telicka, is considering giving up the civil service once his mandate ends in October this year. Mr Telicka's original mandate - till 2009 - was cut short by the Czech government following the collapse of the cabinet of Vladimir Spidla, who has since been nominated for the post of Commissioner in Mr Telicka's stead.

    On Friday Mr Telicka told Czech TV he could not say whether he would stay on in Brussels or return to Prague, indicating he might take a step towards a career in the private sector. Earlier, in July, he refused current Prime Minister Stanislav Gross' offer to take on an advisory post in the Foreign Office.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Six killed, one year-old survives, horrific car accident
    08/28/2004

    Six people including two children were killed in a car accident near the east Bohemian village of Gajary early Saturday. The accident took place at around 1 am when the passengers' vehicle was struck head-on by a van, whose driver suffered injury and is now in hospital. Police are not ruling out alcohol as a factor in the accident. The six people killed were members of two families headed for vacation in Slovakia: a one-year-old child was the sole passenger in the car to survive the crash.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Doktor, Brejchova, come up short of bronze at Olympic Games
    08/28/2004

    Czech canoeist Martin Doktor failed to clinch a medal in two finals on Friday and Saturday morning, when he competed in the men's kilometre and 500 metre events. In the first, Doktor came in 4th place, the second, 5th. Perhaps even more frustrating for Czech fans was Nikola Brejchova's finish in Friday evening's final in the women's javelin. Brejchova held a strong second for most of the final but was beaten by two competitors in the last round to slip to 4th place.

    The Czechs have one more chance to clinch a medal Saturday evening in the men's javelin, in which the legendary Jan Zelezny is competing.
    Author: Jan Velinger

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