Related articles

The Czech music group Charlie Straight is in London set to perform at the Czech House cultural centre on the eve of the start of the Olympic Games.

Czech badminton player Petr Koukal will carry his country’s flag at Friday’s Olympic Games opening ceremony in London, just a year after winning his battle against testicular cancer. The Czech Badminton Federation described the choice as “a big step for Czech badminton and a huge leap for Peter Koukal”. Shortly before departing for London with the team of Czech athletes Koukal shared his feelings with journalists.

Czech President Václav Klaus is to attend the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics of Friday, while several Czech ministers, including Defence Minister Alexandr Vondra, Education Minister Petr Fiala and Minister of Health Leoš Heger are also preparing to attend the Games. While in the UK, Klaus will also be opening a new Czech centre in London and will attend a reception with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. He is scheduled to remain in London until Monday, supporting the efforts of several Czech Olympians. PM Petr Nečas and Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg are not expected to attend the tournament in London.

The Czech Olympic teams are off for London, where their chances are thought to be excellent in more than half a dozen disciplines. Special flights took 66 Czech Athletes to the British capital on Tuesday, and President Václav Klaus and several government ministers are planning to visit over the coming days.

A new work by renowned Czech artist David Černý has gone on display at the Czech House in Islington, London to coincide with the Olympic Games. Entitled ‘London Booster’, the work features a converted red double-decker... doing push-ups! The six-tonne mechanical sculpture even audibly grunts and groans as it lifts itself off the ground, making it a perfect draw for the upcoming Olympics.

In this week’s Sports News: Veselý shuns the Czech national team to focus on the NBA; Slavia draws 3-3 in pre-season friendly; hurdles athlete Hejnová returns to form at the Diamond League tournament; cancer survivor Koukal will carry the Olympic flag in London and Milan Baroš rejects a pay cut and stays at Galatasaray.

Want to try out some “Kafkarate”? Or compete in “Freestyle Kissing”, followed up by some “High Heel gymnastics”? The witty new campaign by Prague City Hall to attract Londoners, trying to escape the stress of the Olympics this year, is based on paraphrasing many Olympic disciplines.

In this week's Sports News: Dominik Hašek is named the greatest ever European ice hockey player; Czech Záhlavová-Strýcová is beaten in the Italiacom Open finals; Czech Olympic javelin hopeful performs in pre-Olympic tournament; police close the case of death of Rally Bohemia navigator and Czech wins third stage in Tour de Pologne cycle competition.

With just a fortnight to the start of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London the Czech Olympic Committee as well as the Czech embassy in the British capital is gearing up for the event. The base for Czech sports fans and visitors to the games will be the “Czech House”, located in the borough of Islington, which will open on Friday, July 27. Radio Prague spoke to the Czech ambassador to the UK, Michael Žantovský, and asked him about the preparations.

In this week's Sports News, Petra Kvitová to play crucial fourth round match at Wimbledon; Czech players on the move in the NHL; two local ice-hockey teams form a business partnership; five medals for Czechs at the European Athletics Championships and the national women's basketball team qualifies at the eleventh hour for the London Olympics.