Sports News

In Sports News: the Czech cross country skier Lukáš Bauer finally gets his hands on his trophy after becoming the first Czech ever to win the season-long World Cup; biathlonist Michal Šlesingr wins his first ever World Cup race, after a photo finish in Norway; Slavia remain on top of the Czech football league, but leave it late to sink Bohemians; and Marek Matějovský is the talk of the Premier League after a stunning goal for Reading.

Bauer finally gets hands on historic World Cup trophy

Lukáš Bauer, photo: CTK

The Czech cross country skier Lukáš Bauer had the season-long World Cup in the bag two weeks ago. However, the 29-year-old had to wait until Sunday to savour fully his victory, with the presentation of the winner’s Crystal Globe in Italy’s Saint Caterina. That followed a second-place finish for the Czech in the 15 km pursuit, a result which confirmed Bauer’s dominance of this season’s World Cup – he finished with the highest points tally in the history of the competition, and the biggest ever points lead on the runner-up.

“It’s a great success not just for me but for my whole back-up team, and I hope for the whole of Czech skiing. It’s down to the hard work of all my team and the people around me. Without them it wouldn’t have been possible – I’d like to say thanks to them.”

Lukáš Bauer is the first Czech ever to win the cross country skiing World Cup.

Šlesingr wins first biathlon World Cup race in photo finish

Michal Šlesingr, photo: CTK

Another Czech skier on the podium on Sunday was Michal Šlesingr, who – in the last World Cup biathlon race of the season – finished first for the first time in his career in the 15 km mass start at Norway’s Holmenkollen. But it was a close thing: in a photo finish, Šlesingr was just a tenth of a second ahead of his nearest rival.

Slavia leave it late to beat Bohemians

Slavia Prague - Bohemians, Mickael Tavares (right), photo: CTK

The game of the weekend in the Czech football league featured leaders Slavia Prague at home to Bohemians 1905. And Slavia made hard work of cementing their position at the top of the league: a sweet back-heel from Frenchman Mickael Tavares in the closing minutes gave them a 2:1 win – and left Bohemians in deep trouble at the bottom of the table. Elsewhere, third-placed Teplice ended a run of three defeats with a 2:1 home win over Zlín. Sparta Prague, who are in second five points behind Slavia, travel to bogie team Mladá Boleslav after the recording of this programme.

Matějovský talk of Premiership with brilliantly executed goal

Marek Matějovský made a big splash in the Premier League at the weekend, with his first goal for Reading. And what a goal – the Czech midfielder smashed in from 20 yards against Liverpool to complete a cleverly taken free-kick move. But Matějovský’s joy was short-lived, as Reading ended up losing 2:1.