The Czech Republic competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's sixth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics after splitting from the former Czechoslovakia. The Czech team consisted of 105 athletes, 63 men and 42 women, across twenty sports.
Czech Republic returned home from Rio de Janeiro with a total of 10 medals (1 gold, 2 silver, and 7 bronze), marking the country's second-most successful Olympics, behind tallies of 11 achieved at Atlanta 1996 and London 2012. Three of the medals were awarded to the Czech squad in canoeing and tennis, while the rest to the competitors in judo, track and field, mountain biking, and rowing.
Among the medalists were 2014 world judo champion Lukáš Krpálek, who captured the country's only gold medal in the men's half-heavyweight division (100 kg), and rower Ondřej Synek, who managed to add a bronze to his Olympic career treasury of two silvers in the men's single sculls. Flatwater canoeist and two-time world champion Josef Dostál contributed two of the country's medals, picking up a silver in the K-1 1000 m, and a bronze as a member of the Czech crew in the kayak four, his second consecutive medal in that event. Despite witnessing her three-peat bid come to an end with a bronze at the Games, double Olympic champion Barbora Špotáková cemented her place in history as the first woman to score three medals in the javelin throw. Mountain biker Jaroslav Kulhavý closed out the nation's Olympic campaign by taking home the silver medal in the men's cross-country race, losing his title defense to Switzerland's Nino Schurter.
Despite achieving total of 10 medals, for the first time since 1980 Summer Olympics Czech Republic / Czechoslovakia didn't win any medal in shooting competitions.
Medalists
The following Czech competitors won medals at the Games. In the by discipline sections below, medalists' names are bolded.
Medal Name Sport Event Date Lukáš Krpálek Judo Men's 100 kg Josef Dostál Canoeing Men's K-1 1000 m Jaroslav Kulhavý Cycling Men's cross-country Jiří Prskavec Canoeing Men's K-1 Ondřej Synek Rowing Men's single sculls Petra Kvitová Tennis Women's singles Lucie ŠafářováBarbora Strýcová Tennis Women's doubles Lucie HradeckáRadek Štěpánek Tennis Mixed doubles Barbora Špotáková Athletics Women's javelin throw Josef DostálDaniel HavelJan ŠtěrbaLukáš Trefil Canoeing Men's K-4 1000 m
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Medals by sportSport TotalAthletics0011Canoeing0123Cycling0101Judo1001Rowing0011Tennis0033Total 1 2 7 10 |style="text-align:left;width:22%;vertical-align:top;"|
Medals by dayDayDate Total50011610018003390011110101130011150011160101Total 1 2 7 10 |style="text-align:left;width:22%;vertical-align:top;"|
Medals by genderGender TotalPercentageMale123660.00%Female003330.00%Mixed001110.00%Total 1 2 7 10 100% |style="text-align:left;width:22%;vertical-align:top;"|
Multiple medalistsNameSport TotalJosef DostálCanoeing0112
Competitors Czech Olympic Committee fielded a roster of 105 athletes, 63 men and 42 women, to compete across twenty sports at these Games; it was the nation's smallest delegation sent to the Olympics since the breakup of the former Czechoslovakia. Moreover, Czech Republic did not send teams in any of the collective sports for the first time in the nation's Olympic history.
Of the 105 participants, sixty of them attended at least a single Olympiad, with the rest making their debut in Rio de Janeiro. Track and field accounted for the largest number of athletes on the team with 25 entries. Golf, artistic gymnastics, triathlon, weightlifting, and wrestling all had a single competitor.
Thirteen of the nation's past Olympic medalists returned, including four defending champions from London 2012: javelin thrower Barbora Špotáková, modern pentathlete David Svoboda, single sculls rower Miroslava Knapková, and mountain biker Jaroslav Kulhavý. 2008 trap shooting champion David Kostelecký, synchronized swimmer Soňa Bernardová, and former cross-country skier Kateřina Nash in mountain biking headed the full roster of Czech athletes by participating in their fifth Olympics as the most experienced competitors. They were followed by Knapková, Špotakova, Kulhavý, long-distance and open water swimmer Jana Pechanová, double rowing medalist Ondřej Synek in the men's single sculls, and high jumper and 2004 bronze medalist Jaroslav Bába, all of whom vied for their fourth straight Games.
Other notable athletes on the Czech roster included reigning silver medalists Andrea Hlaváčková and Lucie Hradecká in the women's tennis doubles, 2012 bronze medalist and double world champion Zuzana Hejnová in the women's 400 m hurdles, and 2014 world judo champion Lukáš Krpálek, who was selected to be the country's flag bearer in the opening ceremony.
Rifle shooting rookie Filip Nepejchal and freestyle swimming teen Barbora Seemanová, both of whom competing under 18, were Czech Republic's youngest competitors, with Kostelecký rounding out the field as the oldest member (aged 41). Double canoeing champion Martin Doktor served as the team's chef de mission for the Games.
| width=78% align=left valign=top | The following is the list of number of competitors participating in the Games: SportMenWomenTotalAthletics 14 11 25Badminton 1 1 2Canoeing 12 1 13Cycling 9 1 10Fencing 2 0 2Golf 0 1 1Gymnastics 1 0 1Judo 3 0 3Modern pentathlon 2 1 3Rowing 7 3 10Sailing 2 1 3Shooting 2 3 5Swimming 2 6 8Synchronized swimming — 2 2Table tennis 2 2 4Tennis 3 5 8Triathlon 0 1 1Volleyball 0 2 2Weightlifting 1 0 1Wrestling 0 1 1 Total 63 42 105
Athletics
Czech athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event):
Key Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only Q = Qualified for the next round q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target NR = National record N/A = Round not applicable for the event Bye = Athlete not required to compete in round NM = No mark
Track & road events Men AthleteEventHeat SemifinalFinalResultRankResultRankResultRankLukáš Gdula50 km walkcolspan=4 Jakub Holuša1500 m3:38.311 Q3:40.839did not advancePavel Maslák400 m45.545 q45.063did not advancePetr Svoboda110 m hurdles13.656 q13.678did not advance
Women AthleteEventHeat SemifinalFinalResultRankResultRankResultRankAnežka Drahotová20 km walkcolspan=4 1:30:4310Zuzana Hejnová400 m hurdles55.542 Q54.551 Q53.924Denisa Rosolová56.364 q57.398 did not advanceEva Vrabcová-NývltováMarathoncolspan=4 2:33.5126
Field events Men AthleteEventQualificationFinalDistancePositionDistancePositionJaroslav BábaHigh jump2.26=12 q2.2014Michal BalnerPole vault5.60=10 q5.50=7Petr FrydrychJavelin throw83.605 Q79.1212Radek JuškaLong jump7.8413 did not advanceJan KudličkaPole vault5.70=7 q5.75=4Lukáš MelichHammer throw73.1415 did not advanceTomáš StaněkShot put19.7620 did not advanceJakub VadlejchJavelin throw83.277 Q82.428Vítězslav Veselý82.8510 q82.517
Women AthleteEventQualificationFinalDistancePositionDistancePositionMichaela HrubáHigh jump1.9218 did not advanceRomana MaláčováPole vault4.30=24 did not advanceKateřina ŠafránkováHammer throw68.3317 did not advanceBarbora ŠpotákováJavelin throw64.652 Q64.80Jiřina SvobodováPole vault4.45=19 did not advance
Combined events Men's decathlon AthleteEventFinalRankAdam Helcelet Result11.067.3515.112.0449.5114.3744.134.7068.204:34.41829112Points847898796840837927749819862716Jiří Sýkora Result11.157.0013.451.9849.8815.0244.4956.99DNF623725Points82781469578582084775606930
Women's heptathlon AthleteEvent 200 m 800 mFinalRankKateřina CachováResult13.191.7712.3824.325.9137.772:18.95595824Points1096941686950822625838Eliška KlučinováResult14.071.8014.4125.376.0846.732:22.81607722Points968978821853874797786
Badminton
The Czech Republic has qualified two badminton players for each of the following events into the Olympic tournament. Remarkably going to their third Olympics, Kristína Gavnholt was selected among the top 34 individual shuttlers in the women's singles based on the BWF World Rankings as of 5 May 2016, while her counterpart Petr Koukal picked up one of the spare athlete berths from the doubles as the next highest-ranked eligible player in the men's singles.
AthleteEventGroup StageEliminationQuarterfinalSemifinalFinal / OppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankPetr KoukalMen's singlesL (14–21, 18–21)L (10–21, 21–16, 12–21)3did not advanceKristína GavnholtWomen's singlesL (22–20, 12–21, 15–21)L (20–22, 21–15)3did not advance
Canoeing
Slalom Czech canoeists have qualified a maximum of one boat in each of the following classes through the 2015 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships. The roster of Czech slalom canoeists will be announced on 15 May 2016 as a result of their top performances at three selection meets of the Olympic Trials: two domestic races in Veltrusy ( 16 to 17 April) and Prague ( 23 to 24 April) and the European Championships ( 13 to 15 May) in Liptovský Mikuláš, Slovakia.
AthleteEventPreliminarySemifinalFinalRun 1RankRun 2RankBestRankTimeRankTimeRankVítězslav GebasMen's C-1109.9214102.7812102.7814 Q98.775 Q97.574Jonáš KašparMarek ŠindlerMen's C-2106.326103.432103.434 Q108.092 Q108.358Jiří PrskavecMen's K-188.713101.181788.717 Q90.622 Q88.99Kateřina KudějováWomen's K-1102.063106.108102.065 Q103.784 Q108.7610
Sprint Czech canoeists have qualified a total of four boats in each of the following distances for the Games through the 2015 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships. Meanwhile, one additional boat was awarded to the Czech squad in men's C-2 1000 m by virtue of a top two national finish at the 2016 European Qualification Regatta in Duisburg, Germany.
The sprint canoeing team, led by London 2012 bronze medalist Josef Dostál in the men's kayak four, was named to the Olympic roster on 7 June 2016.
Men AthleteEventHeatsSemifinalsFinalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankJosef DostálK-1 1000 m3:35.3421 Q3:36.3844 FA3:32.145Martin FuksaC-1 200 m40.3113 Q40.3114 FB39.7609C-1 1000 m4:01.4922 Q4:01.7931 FA4:03.3225Filip ŠvábK-1 200 m35.5677did not advanceFilip DvořákJaroslav RadoňC-2 1000 m3:36.8184 Q3:42.1662 FA3:49.3527Daniel HavelJan ŠtěrbaK-2 1000 m3:53.9076 Q3:21.5694 FB3:25.96612Josef DostálDaniel HavelJan ŠtěrbaLukáš TrefilK-4 1000 m2:52.0271 FAcolspan=2 3:05.176 Qualification Legend: FA = Qualify to final (medal); FB = Qualify to final B (non-medal)
Cycling
Road Czech riders qualified for a maximum of four quota places in the men's Olympic road race by virtue of their top 15 final national ranking in the 2015 UCI World and Europe Tour. The men's road cycling team was named to the Olympic roster on 23 June 2016.
AthleteEventTimeRankJan BártaMen's road racedid not finishMen's time trial1:15:56.9115Leopold KönigMen's road racedid not finishMen's time trial1:15:23.6411Zdeněk ŠtybarMen's road racedid not finishPetr VakočMen's road race6:30:0558
Track Following the completion of the 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, Czech riders failed to win a quota place in the men's team sprint, but they did manage to accumulate a single berth in the men's keirin and two in the men's sprint, by virtue of their final individual UCI Olympic rankings in those events.
Sprint AthleteEventQualificationRound 1Repechage 1Round 2Repechage 2QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalTimeSpeed (km/h)RankOppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)RankPavel KelemenMen's sprint9.96972.22314 QLLdid not advance
Keirin AthleteEvent1st RoundRepechage2nd RoundFinalRankRankRankRankPavel KelemenMen's keirin6 R4 did not advance
Mountain biking