Olympics Special: First Czech gold for Knapková

PraguePost: Rower leads a three-day medal rush after a slow start to the games

ou know what they say about London buses. You wait ages for one, and then three come along at the same time. This analogy also rings true for Czech medals at the 2012 Olympics.

The first one took a while to arrive, but it served as the appetizer, so to speak, for an indulgent weekend.

Four years ago in Beijing, shooter Kateřina Emmons bagged a gold medal for the Czech Republic in the very first event of the games.

This time around, it was the rower Miroslava Knapková who became the first Czech athlete to top the podium - not until day eight, but boy was it worth the wait.

Knapková stormed to a stunning two-length victory in the women's single sculls on Dorney Lake Aug. 4, underlining the dominance she had shown throughout the competition. Having qualified fastest for the final, the 31-year-old looked the picture of calm as she pulled out a seven-second lead at the halfway point. 

Although Knapková eased up toward the end of the 2,000 meters race, her margin of victory was still an impressive three seconds.

Afterward, she told The Prague Post she was delighted to add the Olympic title to her world championship crown won in Slovenia last year.

"It's something fantastic," Knapková said. "I've been dreaming about being an Olympic champion since I was a child. Now this dream has come true."

"I didn't feel any pressure. I felt very relaxed and simply wanted to enjoy the race. I didn't really have any tactics; I'm just so, so happy to have won." 

Knapková's success, following a series of silver and bronze medals at international regattas, gives the Czech Republic its first rowing gold since the country gained independence in 1993.

That honor nearly went to Ondřej Synek in the men's single sculls one day earlier. However, the silver medalist in Beijing had to settle for another second place after watching New Zealand's Mahe Drysdale row clear in the closing stages.

Synek had clung on gamely until the last 500 meters but was ultimately unable to keep pace with the five-time world champion Drysdale.

Strong crosswinds meant the starting lanes were reallocated before the race to reflect qualifying times. Synek, 29, said that had made his semifinal performance all the more crucial.

"It was important for me to get a good lane in the final," he said. "I had to work really hard for first place in the semifinals, and it was an open race."

"I'm very happy. My dream was gold, but this is still great."

Hradilek the catalyst

Things really got going Aug. 1 when Vavřinec Hradilek won the Czech Republic's first medal of the games after taking silver in the men's kayak (K1) at the Lee Valley whitewater center.

Hradilek had set the pace in the final with a clean early run, which was nearly five seconds quicker than his semifinal effort. The 25-year-old then faced a nervous wait as other competitors in the field tried to better that mark.

However, only Daniele Molmenti of Italy could beat Hradilek's time, and the Czech picked up his country's first medal after five days of competition.

"Everyone was telling me that my run would be good enough for gold, but I always suspected someone would beat it," Hradilek said after the race.

Meanwhile, veteran kayaker Štĕpánka Hilgertová didn't quite manage to end her illustrious Olympic career in style as she narrowly missed out on a medal in the women's K1 Aug. 2. The 44-year-old, who is a two-time Olympic champion, finished in an agonizing fourth place, despite holding the silver medal position for much of the event.

Following her golds in Atlanta in 1996 and in Sydney 12 years ago, Hilgertová now looks set to retire from the sport after a career spanning more than two decades.

Serena and Venus Williams again the thorn in the side for Czech pair

If Andrea Hlaváčková and Lucie Hradecká see the Williams sisters again, it will be too soon.

For the second major tennis final in a row Aug. 5, the Czechs were beaten in straight sets by the Americans, who became the first pair to claim the women's doubles title three times.

Hlaváčková and Hradecká started slowly but got into their stride as the match wore on. However, the Williams sisters always had that much more power in the tank, running out 6-4 6-4 winners in a near carbon copy of their Wimbledon encounter four weeks ago.

The medal ceremony had to be delayed for five hours while the rain-interrupted bronze-medal match was completed. But when it arrived, the Czech pair showed they hadn't lost any of their good humor by wearing the trademark wellington boots that were the talk of the opening ceremony.

Appropriate, considering the No. 4 seeds were practically drowned under a deluge of aces. 

"I don't think anyone can beat the Williams sisters," Hlaváčková said. "Whenever we did get a break point, their serves just blew us away."

That silver took the Czech Republic's medal tally up to five as of press time, with Adéla Sýkorová having battled her way to a bronze in the women's 50-meter rifle three positions Aug. 4.

Much of the attention now shifts to track and field, where 400 meters hurdlers Denisa Rosolová and Zuzana Hejnová, as well as javelin throwers Barbora Špotáková and Vítězslav Veselý, will lead the Czech charge.

Rosolová experienced contrasting emotions in her semifinal Aug. 6 when she first qualified as a fastest loser, then was disqualified for an infringement, before finally being put through after the Czech team successfully appealed.

The final takes place Aug. 8.

Jonathan Crane