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Czech athlete David Svoboda won the gold medal in men’s modern pentathlon at the Olympic Games in London, setting a new Olympic record of 5928 points. The 27-year-old Czech won the first event, fencing, in which he equaled the Olympic record. He was on second place after second event, swimming but moved back to top after show-jumping. In the final event, a cross-country run combined with shooting, David Svoboda managed to stay clear of China’s Zhongrong Cao on second place. The medal is the Czech team’s third gold.

Czech competitor Barbora Špotáková has won gold in the women’s javelin throw at the Olympic Games in London. The athlete dominated in the competition: her longest throw was 69.55 metres but all four of her attempts were more than any of her nearest rivals could muster. Špotáková becomes just the third competitor in Czech Olympic history to defend their title at the Summer Olympics, a feat previously achieved only by legends Emil Zátopek and Jan Železný (Špotáková’s couch). Špotáková won her first gold four years ago in Beijing. The medal brings the Czech tally at the London games to eight.

Czech competitors Havel, Trefil, Dostál, and Štěrba finished third in the Men's Kayak Four (K4) 1000m at the Olympic Games. The bronze brings the overall medal tally for the Czech Republic to seven. The competition was won by Australia, Hungary’s team was second.

Czech Olympic champion javelin thrower Barbora Špotáková has advanced to the events final after she threw 66.19 meters in her first qualification attempt on Tuesday. The 31-year-old Czech athlete who won gold at the Beijing Olympics four years ago said her performance left room for improvement in the final. She said her goal was to pass the 70 meter mark. The event’s final is scheduled for Thursday night.

Veronika Fenclová on Monday finished ninth in women’s Laser Radial sailing event at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The 31-year-old Czech started off eight with no chance of winning a medal, the news agency ČTK reported. In other Olympic news, trap shooter Miroslav Kostelecký, who won gold at the previous games in Beijing, failed on Monday to qualify for the finals of the event.

This weekend saw the Czech Olympic team pick up four more medals in London, including the first gold in this year’s Olympics. The Czechs achieved most of their successes of the past few days in the water, but even before the games began, the Czech team made a big splash in the world of fashion. At the Opening ceremony they paraded around the Olympic stadium in facetious wellingtons with umbrellas in hand. But for the creators of the Olympic opening outfits their success was not a given.

In this week's Sports News: Vavřinec Hradilek brings Czechs their first Olympic medal; a second silver for Czechs in rowing competition; Hlaváčková and Lucie Hradecká win silver in the tennis doubles; Kolocová and Sluková are knocked out in the beach volleyball quarter-finals; Sýkorová wins bronze in shooting competition and Miroslava Knapková brings Czechs their first gold medal.

Czech doubles partners Andrea Hlaváčková and Lucie Hradecká lost in straight sets against the Venus and Serena Williams in the gold medal match on Sunday. The final score was 6:4, 6:4. The Czechs received congratulations on their silver finish from Czech President Václav Klaus.

The women’s basketball team got off to an excellent start on Friday against the US jumping to a 10 point lead before the American players began to regain their bearing. In the end, the Czechs lost by a score 61:88. The women’s team will have to defeat Angola on Sunday in order to book a spot in the play-offs.

Czech rower Ondřej Synek, who secured the Czech Republic’s second medal at the Olympic Games in London on Friday, has expressed more than satisfaction with the result. The Czech competitor came in second place in the 200m race with a time of 6:59.37, beaten only by New Zealand’s Mahé Drysdale, who clinched a time of 6:57.82. Synek told idnes that afterwards he had joked with Drysdale that ‘some people collected silver, others gold’, adding that true gold was waiting for him at home – his wife is expecting. Synek also received silver in the same discipline four years ago in Beijing.