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In Sports News this Monday: Soukup with bronze in biathlon and speed skater Sáblíková with silver reach podium at Winter Olympics in Sochi; snowboarder Pančochová misses out on medal after dramatic fall; and skier Strachová comes ninth in super combined after slalom first place.

The Czech speed skater Martina Sáblíková has taken the silver medal in the women’s 3000m at the Winter Olympics in Russia’s Sochi. The 26-year-old, who won gold at that distance at the last Games in Vancouver four years ago was only bettered on Sunday by Ireen Wuest of the Netherlands, the winner in Turin in 2006. Sáblíková’s success means the Czechs now have two medals, after Jaroslav Soukup’s bronze in the biathlon 10km sprint on Saturday.

Snowboarder Šárka Pančochová, regarded as one of the Czech Republic’s medal hopefuls before Sochi, finished fifth on Sunday in the slopestyle event, which was this year included in the Winter Olympics for the first time. Pančochová’s helmet was broken when she fell after badly while attempting a complicated 540 frontside jump.

The Czech team at the Winter Olympics in Russia’s Sochi have taken their first medal, bronze for Jaroslav Soukup in the 10 kilometre sprint in the biathlon. Soukup, who is 31, finished seven tenths of a second ahead of his nearest rival to reach the podium, while another Czech, Ondřej Moravec, finished eighth in Saturday’s event. The Czech Republic took six medals at the last Winter Olympics, in Vancouver.

The Czech House at the Winter Olympics in Sochi was officially opened on Saturday. The Czech Olympic HQ is considerably more modest than its equivalent at the London Summer Olympics, partly because 50,000 Czech live in the UK capital and none live in Sochi, the chairman of the Czech Olympic Committee, Jiří Kejval, said at the official launch. The Czech House was opened by the country’s president, Miloš Zeman, and the head of the Czech Roman Catholic Church, Archbishop Dominik Duka.

The "Sochi-Letná Olympic Park" opened in Prague’s Letná park on Thursday night. The park features a skating ring, a snowboard slope and other attractions as well as live broadcasts from the Olympic Games. Prague City Hall spent around 66 million crowns on the attraction. Several dozen people came to protest against the park’s costs and Russia’s poor human rights record.

Czech President Miloš Zeman has arrived in Sochi on Thursday, a day before the start of the 2014 Winter Olympics. Mr Zeman is scheduled to have dinner with members of the Czech Olympic team on Thursday night. On Friday, the Czech head of state will take part in a reception held by Russian President Vladimir Putin before attending the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Mr Zeman will meet with several foreign officials during his visit including the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, the Czech president’s office said. On Saturday, Miloš Zeman will inaugurate the Czech Olympic House while on Sunday, he would like to attend a 1,500 speed skating event to root for the Czech medal hopeful, Martina Sablíková. The president is accompanied by head of the Czech Roman Catholic Church, Cardinal Dominik Duka, and other officials, on his trip to Sochi.

Czech snowboarder Šárka Pančochová finished fifth in slope style qualification at the Sochi Winter Olympics on Thursday, failing to qualify directly for the event’s finals. Instead, the 23-year-old Czech athlete will have to compete in the semi-finals on Saturday to book a place in the finals.

In the next couple of weeks, sports fans around the Czech Republic will be glued to the Winter Olympics in Sochi, where competitors like speed skater Martina Sáblíková and the national ice hockey team will be going for gold. In Turin in 2006 the Czechs took four medals, while in Vancouver four years ago they picked up an impressive six. So does the Czech team have a medals target this time out? That was one of several questions I put to Jiří Kejval, the chairman of the Czech Olympic Committee.

The leading Czech downhill skier Šárka Strachová (née Záhrobská) says she is hoping to take a medal at what will be her last Winter Olympics in Sochi. Before flying to Russia on Tuesday, the 28-year-old, who will carry the Czech flag at Friday’s opening ceremony, said she would train in Austria for a week between her two events, the super combined competition and the slalom, as no slopes would be available in Sochi for practicing. Strachová took bronze in the slalom in Vancouver four years ago.