Barbora Špotáková

Barbora Špotáková
Barbora Špotáková 2007
nation	Czech Republic
birthday	30th June 1981 (age 39)
place of birth	Jablonec nad Nisou ,  Czechoslovakia
size	182 cm
Weight	80 kg
Career
discipline	Javelin throw
Best performance	72.28 m
society	TJ Dukla Praha
Trainer	Jan Tylce
status	active
Medal table
Olympic Summer Games 2 × 0 × 1 × World championships 3 × 1 × 0 × European championships 1 × 1 × 1 × Summer Universiade 1 × 0 × 0 ×
Olympic games gold Beijing 2008 71.42 m gold London 2012 69.55 m bronze Rio de Janeiro 2016 64.80 m  World championships gold Osaka 2007 67.07 m silver Berlin 2009 66.42 m gold Daegu 2011 71.58 m gold London 2017 66.76 m  European championships silver Gothenburg 2006 65.64 m bronze Barcelona 65.36 m gold Zurich 2014 64.41 m  Universiade gold Izmir 2005 60.73 m
last change: August 9, 2020

Barbora Špotáková (born June 30, 1981 in Jablonec nad Nisou , ČSSR ) is a Czech athlete and javelin thrower . With two Olympic victories and three world championships, she is one of the most successful athletes today. In addition, she has held the world record in javelin throwing since 2008 with 72.28 m.

Athletic career

At the beginning of her sporting career, Barbora Špotáková was initially a heptathlete and also tried the decathlon until she finally concentrated on her strongest discipline, the javelin . In 2000 she took part in the heptathlon at the Junior World Championships in Santiago de Chile , where she finished fourth with 5689 points. In 2002 she took part in the European Championships in Munich for the first time and was eliminated there in the javelin throw with a width of 51.71 m in the qualification. The following year she was at the U23 European Championships in Bydgoszcz with 56.65 m sixth and then she reached fourth place at the Summer Universiade in Daegu, South Korea, with 55.31 m. In 2004 she tried her hand at the decathlon for women and set a national best in Talence with 6749 points. In 2005 she took part in the World Championships in Helsinki for the first time, but was eliminated there with a width of 58.74 m in the qualification, but then won the Student World Games in Izmir with 60.73 m. In 2006 she won the silver medal at the European Championships in Gothenburg with 65.64 m and only had to admit defeat to the German Steffi Nerius . She then set a new national record at the World Athletics Final in Stuttgart with 66.21 m, replacing Nikola Brejchová as the record holder.

In 2007 Špotáková won the gold medal at the World Championships in Osaka , where she twice her own Czech national record of 66.21 m to 67.07 m in the finals. At that time she was only the seventh woman who threw more than 67 m. In 2008 she qualified for the first time for the Olympic Games in Beijing , where she set a new European record with 71.42 m in the final and thus won the gold medal ahead of the Germans Christina Obergföll and Goldie Sayers from the United Kingdom. At the 6th IAAF World Final in Stuttgart on September 13, 2008, Špotáková set a new world record. She threw 72.28 m and exceeded the old record of the Cuban javelin thrower Osleidys Menéndez by more than half a meter. The following year she was the top favorite to win the World Championships in Berlin , but had to admit defeat there with 66.42 m by the German Nerius and won the silver medal. Also at the European Championships in Barcelona in 2010 she had to admit defeat to the Germans Linda Stahl and Christina Obergföll with 65.36 m and won the bronze medal. In 2011, Špotáková originally won the silver medal behind Russian Marija Abakumowa with 71.58 m at the World Championships in Daegu . In 2018, however, the gold medal was revoked because of numerous doping offenses and the gold medal was therefore belatedly awarded to the Czech. In 2012, she repeated her Olympic success in Beijing at the Olympic Games in London and won the final with 69.55 m in front of the two Germans Obergföll and Stahl. Besides the German Ruth Fuchs, she was only the second javelin thrower to repeat her Olympic victory. On October 28, 2012, she was finally awarded the Medal of Merit by then President Václav Klaus . She was also named Czech Athlete of the Year for the sixth time.

After the birth of her son Janek in May 2013, she returned to the sport in September and immediately threw over 60 meters again. In the following year, she finally secured the gold medal at the European Championships in Zurich with 64.41 m and thus won all major athletics championships. Then she also won the IAAF Continental Cup in Marrakech with a width of 65.52 m. In 2015 she reached the final at the World Championships in Beijing , where she finished ninth with a throw of 60.08 m. In the following year she finished fifth at the European Championships in Amsterdam with 62.66 m. Afterwards she aimed for her third title at her third Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro , but had to admit defeat with 64.80 m in the final to the surprise winner Sara Kolak from Croatia and the South African Sunette Viljoen . The following year, however, she returned to her old strength and won the World Championships in London with a width of 66.76 m in the final ahead of the two Chinese women Li Lingwei and Lü Huihui . Because of the birth of her second child, she interrupted her sporting career until autumn 2018. In 2019 she qualified again for the World Championships in Doha and made it to the finals there , in which she finished ninth with 59.87 m.

In 2003, from 2005 to 2012 as well as 2017 and 2019, Špotáková became the Czech javelin thrower. With five successes in the Diamond League (2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017) she is one of the most successful athletes at the event.

She is very popular in her homeland: in 2008 and 2012 she was voted the best athlete in the Czech Republic and from 2007 to 2012 Athlete of the Year. In 2012 she was made an honorary citizen of her native Jablonec nad Nisou .

Personal best

• Javelin throw: 72.28 m, September 13, 2008 in Stuttgart ( world record )
• Heptathlon: 5880 points, September 16, 2012 in Talence
• Decathlon: 6749 points, September 26, 2004 in Talence ( Czech record )

Web links

Commons : Barbora Špotáková  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Barbora Špotáková in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Barbora Špotáková in the Olympedia.org database (English)
• Profile at the Czech Athletics Federation

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jörg Wenig: Spotakova: Zelezny's Olympic triple is the next goal ( English ) World Athletics. August 10, 2012. Accessed January 10, 2020.
2. ↑ Hlasování skončilo: Klaus ocenil oštěpařku Špotákovou i spisovatele se stínem v minulosti ( Czech ) iDNES.cz. October 28, 2012. Accessed January 10, 2020.
3. ↑ Michal Procházka: Špotáková named Czech Athlete of Year for sixth time ( English ) World Athletics. November 11, 2012. Accessed January 10, 2020.
4. ↑ Michael Butcher: Bouncing back after giving birth, Spotakova surprises herself on her return ( English ) World Athletics. September 24, 2013. Accessed January 10, 2020.
5. ↑ Bob Ramsak: Spotakova completes her gold collection with European title ( English ) World Athletics. August 14, 2014. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
6. ↑ http://www.mestojablonec.cz/redakce/index.php?lanG=cs&slozka=24&clanek=33623