Sports News

In Sports News: cross country skier Katerina Neumannova takes gold at the Nordic Skiing World Championships, while Jakub Janda comes second in ski jumping; Vaclav Kolousek makes an emotional return for Slavia FC after overcoming leukemia; and Kladno are the latest team to qualify for the playoffs of ice hockey's Extraliga.

Good results for Czech Republic at Nordic Skiing World Championships

Katerina Neumannova, photo: CTK

The Czech Republic picked up some very impressive results at the Nordic Skiing World Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany. Following Katerina Neumannova's first ever world title win in the 10 km free, Jakub Janda took silver in ski jumping with jumps of 96 and 91.5 metres. After the first round Janda was in seventh place - he says he did not expect to reach the podium.

Jakub Janda, photo: CTK

"We were talking about my first jump and we thought it was pretty good, and I wasn't so far behind the leaders. But actually I would have been happy with seventh place, and when I came second I really didn't expect it."

Spare a thought for Czech cross country skier Lukas Bauer. A month ago he came first in the World Cup 2 x 15 km skiathlon, and big things were expected of him in Oberstdorf. But in the end he struggled and finished a poor 34th.

Swimmer Hlavackova beats record holder on way to fourth victory of season

Czech swimmer Ilona Hlavackova won her fourth World Cup race of the season in the 50m backstroke in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. It was the first time that short course specialist Hlavackova beat the world record holder Natalie Coughlin.

Kolousek makes emotional return after overcoming leukemia

Vaclav Kolousek, photo: www.slavia.cz

The whole of Czech football will have welcomed the return of Slavia Prague playmaker Vaclav Kolousek, who made his first appearance since overcoming leukemia in a friendly against Liberec on Saturday. He said he was close to tears when he ran out on to the pitch for the first time.

It won't be long before Kolousek gets a chance to take part in competitive football again - the Czech league resumes next weekend after the winter break.

Liberec are sixth in the league, but will be docked six points at the end of the season, after being found guilty of bribing a referee. They were also fined 500,000 Czech crowns (over 20,000 US dollars).

And Czech national captain Tomas Galasek has just undergone an operation to deal with a groin strain which has been giving him problems for some time.

Kladno secure place in Extraliga playoffs after beating contenders Pilsen

The battle for the playoffs of the Czech Extraliga is really hotting up; on Sunday Kladno beat Pilsen 4:1 to guarantee a place in the top eight. Pilsen are still in with a chance to reach the playoffs, as are Karlovy Vary, who beat Jihlava 3:0, and Znojmo, who beat Vitkovice 3:1.