Sports News

An athletics world record was broken in the Czech Republic for the first time in seven years at the Golden Spike in Ostrava, which was attended by US sprinter Marion Jones, Czech javelin king Jan Zelezny and runner Ludmila Formanova. Ice hockey goalie Dominik Hasek is just one win away from lifting the Stanley Cup. Those stories and more are in Sports News.

Sports News

Athletics world record broken in Czech Republic for first time in seven years

Marion Jones, photo: CTK

An athletics world record was broken in the Czech Republic for the first time in seven years on Wednesday, when Alesja Turorova of Belarus made a time of 9.21 minutes in the 3000 metres hurdles at the Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava. But Turorova was by no means the biggest star at the most important event on the Czech athletics calendar - that distinction went to United States sprinter Marion Jones, who won three golds at the last Olympic games in Sydney. It was Jones's first time in the Czech Republic, and she recorded the world's best time of the year in the 200 metres - 23.32 seconds.

The spectators in Ostrava also enjoyed the opportunity to see Czech javelin legend Jan Zelezny in action, though he himself was not satisfied with his throw of 86.66 metres, seven and a half metres short of his best at the annual Golden Spike. It was Zelezny's first competition of the season, and he admitted to having problems with his run-up.

Jan Zelezny, photo: CTK

And the Czech 800-metre runner Ludmila Formanova competed for the first time after a long break with health problems, and finished third in a time of 2.01 minutes. That's 51seconds off the time Formanova needs in order to qualify for the start of the European Championships.

Hasek just one win away from ice hockey's Stanley Cup

Czech ice hockey goalie Dominik Hasek is now just one win away from lifting the Stanley Cup for the first time in his long career. Hasek kept a clean sheet, his sixth in playoffs this season, as his NHL club the Detroit Red Wings beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3:0 on Tuesday. The series now stands at 3:1 to Detroit. The next game in the best-of-seven playoff series takes place on Friday.

Bejbl to join Slavia, Everton interested in Cech

Football now and the Czech international Radek Bejbl has decided to leave the French club RC Lens for Slavia Prague. Some details of the deal remain to be agreed. Another player who could soon be on the move is Sparta keeper Petr Cech - Everton are the latest English club to express interest in the 20-year-old, though Sparta officials say Cech could have problems getting a work permit in the UK. The rule is that a foreign player must have played at least 75 percent of his country's internationals in the previous year to qualify for a work permit. However, in practice it often happens that - as in the case of Liverpool's Milan Baros - exceptions are made.