Sports News

In Sports News this Monday: Barbora Špotáková qualifies with ease for the javelin final in Berlin – but the title holder is not at all satisfied with her first showing at the World Athletics Championships; nearly 220,000 see Valentino Rossi win the Czech MotoGP in Brno; and the Czech Republic’s David Svoboda comes second at the Modern Pentathlon World Championships for the second year in a row.

Špotáková unhappy with first showing in Berlin despite qualifying easily for javelin final

Barbora Špotáková, photo: CTK

On Sunday title holder Barbora Špotáková qualified with ease for the final of the women’s javelin at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin. The world record holder and Olympic gold medallist reached Tuesday’s final with her first throw: an effort of 63 metres 27 centimetres was one and a quarter metres beyond what Špotáková needed to make the cut. Nevertheless, the 28-year-old from Jablonec was far from satisfied with her first showing at Berlin’s Olympic stadium.

“It went exactly according to plan, but I felt absolutely terrible today. I’m glad I got through at the first attempt…because I don’t know what’s wrong with me today, I couldn’t wake up or something. I hope it will be different in two days – or rather I know it will be different in two days, because I wasn’t myself this morning. Luckily even with such a bad throw I still got through, so on the other hand I am happy. But still it was nothing to write home about.”

Over 200,000 see Rossi win Czech MotoGP in Brno

Valentino Rossi, photo: CTK

A crowd of almost 220,000 saw Valentino Rossi come first in the Czech MotoGP in Brno on Sunday. The Italian had led from pole but was overtaken six laps from the finish by his Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo. However, one lap later the Spanish motorcyclist crashed, handing victory to Rossi, who is the reigning champion and leads the overall championship this season.

As for the Czech riders involved, Lukáš Pešek came 12th despite needing four injections to counteract a virus, while Karel Abraham crashed within seconds of the race getting underway. Abraham has a rather unfortunate record in the Czech MotoGP, finishing the race only once in five starts.

David Svoboda again comes second at Modern Pentathlon World Championships

David Svoboda, photo: CTK

The Czech Republic’s David Svoboda came second at the Modern Pentathlon World Championships in London at the weekend, repeating his silver success from last year. Svoboda was also part of a Czech team which also took silver in the British capital.