Czech medal tally rises to eight as Olympic Games draw to a close

As the Olympics in Athens draw to a close the Czech Republic now has eight medals, after Libor Capalini took bronze in the modern pentathlon on Thursday. But who are the Czechs to watch between now and the end of the Games? And how does this year's medal tally so far compare with Czech achievements in 1996 and 2000?

Czech medal tally rises to eight as Olympic Games draw to a close

Libor Capalini, photo: CTK

As the Olympic Games in Athens slowly draw to a close, the Czech Republic's medal tally has reached eight, with bronze for Libor Capalini in the modern pentathlon on Thursday.

The event was introduced to the Olympics in 1912, and was designed to be the ultimate test of endurance and athletic versatility. It involves shooting, fencing, swimming, showjumping and a 3000m run.

Libor Capalini did poorly in the first two events, and was lying in 18th place after the fencing. But he made a very strong showing in the last three events to take his first Olympic medal at the age of 31. What's more, it was the first Czech medal in the modern pentathlon since the 1976 games in Montreal.

Nikola Brejchova, photo: CTK

As for the remaining few days of the Athens Games, there are two Czech athletes in particular to watch out for, both in the javelin. The women's final takes place on Friday evening and Nikola Brejchova - who was very impressive in the qualifying round - could be on course to take a medal.

Jan Zelezny, photo: CTK

Then on Saturday evening - the big one! Jan Zelezny, the greatest athlete in the history of the javelin, will compete for the last time at the Olympics. Zelezny, who was re-elected to the International Olympic Committee on Thursday, took silver at the 1988 games at the age of 18, and has won three gold medals since then. He also holds the world record.

Most experts say that, at 38, he is not the athlete he once was, but Zelezny has been focused on competing in Athens for the last two years, and many people both in the Czech Republic and elsewhere would be very pleased to see him go out on top, with a gold medal from his last Olympic Games.

So far the Czech Republic has eight medals from Athens, including one gold, for Roman Sebrle in the decathlon. At the last Olympics in Sydney the Czechs took a total of eight medals, two of which were golds. Atlanta in 1996 was particularly successful for the Czech Republic, with four golds, three silvers and four bronzes.