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Olga Fikotová won gold in the discus at the Olympic Games in 1956, less than two years after taking up the discipline. At the Olympics she met and fell in love with an American athlete, Harold Connolly. Back home in Czechoslovakia, their romance overshadowed her stunning success, with Olga accused of being a traitor by the communist authorities. Marriage to Harold spelled the end of her career as a Czechoslovak athlete, though she went on to represent the US at four Olympic Games. Olga Fikotová-Connolly is our guest in this special programme.

Iva Drápalová has lived through, and documented, some of the most important moments of modern Czech history. Cut off from her family at boarding school - and then university - in Britain throughout the Second World War, she picked up the English that led her to the job for which she is now best known. Having returned to her homeland, Iva Drápalová became the Associated Press’s woman in the Czech capital following on from the Prague Spring of 1968. Mrs Drápalová, now in her eighties, has just finished writing her memoirs.

I’m here in the Vysočina region of the Czech Republic, in a small village in the midst of hills, fresh air and idyllic countryside. Next to me are a couple of young ladies who are preparing a Morana which is the god of winter. Basically what happens is that you make a figure out of some branches which are just being put together now, and that is going to be taken for a long walk and we’re going to find a river and set alight to it. Thus, symbolically saying goodbye and setting fire to winter.

Czechs may be one of the most secular nations in Europe, but when it comes to Christian holidays such as Easter or Christmas, they are very keen to observe traditions, even if they don’t know anything about their origin. The Easter holiday has always symbolized the end of winter and the beginning of spring. It is a movable holiday, with Easter Sunday following the first full moon after the first day of spring. This year, Easter has fallen on March 23rd and 24th. But whether it comes a week earlier or a week later, the weather here in the Czech

The sun has just come out over Prague’s Old Town Square, and the Easter market is now looking a lot less sodden - and a lot more appealing - than it was five minutes ago. So, I’m going to take advantage of this little window of good weather to ask some of the people shopping at the Easter market about what they are buying, and some of the stall holders about the traditional crafts that they are selling.

Joseph Carrano and John Moore, the two American citizens arrested in Prostějov, South Moravia, in the beginning of October for overstaying the 90-day visa-free period, are currently detained in a facility for illegal aliens and are facing deportation. They initially applied for asylum in the country to avoid it but have recently withdrawn their application. They are not seeking international protection, just the chance to stay with their family in the Czech Republic. They say they have been treated unfairly by the Czech authorities, and they don’t

We have heard plenty in recent weeks from the two candidates in this year’s Czech presidential elections. But what about their predecessors? The Czech Republic and previously Czechoslovakia have had ten presidents since 1918 when Czechoslovakia was founded, and in this programme we let some of them speak for themselves through Czech Radio’s archives.

Jan Švejnar is taking on the popular incumbent Václav Klaus in this Friday’s election to the largely symbolic post of Czech president. The challenger left Czechoslovakia with his family at the age of 17, after the Soviet invasion of 1968. Following a short period in Switzerland, the Švejnars moved to the United States, where Mr Švejnar – now 55 – has since spent most of his life.

Václav Klaus is a hot favourite in Friday’s presidential election. Backed by the ruling Civic Democrats in both houses of Parliament, he will only need 20 votes from other parties’ electors to win a second term in office. But his apparent advantage over challenger Jan Švejnar – experience in politics, originality of thought, and unwavering support for what he refers to as ‘Czech national interests’ – might also prove to be his greatest weakness.

Welcome to Radio Prague’s special New Year’s Day programme dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the foundation of the Czech Republic. The country now celebrates two foundation days – October 28 in memory of the establishment of Czechoslovakia in 1918, and January 1. On that day in 1993, Czechoslovakia split into two countries – Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The latter anniversary seems to be rather less celebrated, as if it had happened by coincidence. To discuss the achievements and the losses, the victories and the defeats of the 15-year-old