Miroslava Knapková

Miroslava Knapková, 2008

Miroslava Topinková Knapková at the European Rowing Championship 2016

Miroslava "Mirka" Knapková (after marriage to Miroslava Topinková or Miroslava Topinková Knapková ; born September 19, 1980 in Brno ) is a Czech rower .

Knapková first took part in the World Rowing Championships in 2001 and took tenth place in the single . In 2002 she reached second place twice and third place once in the rowing World Cup and won the U23 world regatta . In 2003 she won a World Cup in Munich for the first time, and at the 2003 World Championships she took fourth place. After three podium finishes in the 2004 World Cup, she finished fourth at the 2004 Olympic Games as in the previous year's World Championships.

In 2005 Knapková won her first silver medal at the World Championships in Gifu, Japan, only the Belarusian Ekaterina Karsten crossed the finish line before her . At the 2006 World Championships in Eton she also received silver behind Karsten, and in 2007 in Munich Knapková took fourth place. In the 2008 Olympic season Knapková took second place in the single three times in the World Cup. At the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 Knapková competed in a single and together with Gabriela Vařeková in a double scull and also reached the finals in both boat classes, but with a fifth place in the single and a sixth place in the double scull the result fell short of her previous performances.

In 2009 Knapková won the World Cups in Munich and Lucerne, at the World Championships in Poznan she took third place behind Ekaterina Karsten and the British Katherine Grainger . In 2010, after two second places in the World Cup, she missed a medal with fourth place at the World Championships . 2011 was the most successful year in Mirka Knapková's career to date, after a fifth and a third place at the World Cup she won her first world title in Bled , followed by her second European title in Plovdiv after 2008.

At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, she was able to confirm the achievements from the previous year and became Olympic champion in one. A year later, at the World Rowing Championships in Chungju , she took third place. At the 2014 World Championships , she finished seventh as the winner of the B final. At the European level, she won the single title at the European Championships in 2013 , 2014 and 2015 . In 2015 she reached the A-final at the World Championships again and finished second behind the Australian Kim Crow . In her fourth Olympic participation in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro , she finished seventh.

After a year break, Miroslava Topinková Knapková returned to the regatta courses in 2018, but did not reach the A final at either the European or World Championships. In 2019 at the European Championships in Lucerne, she won the bronze medal behind Sanita Pušpure from Ireland and Jeannine Gmelin from Switzerland .

Knapková married her partner Pavel Topinka on October 3rd and 4th, 2015 and has started as Miroslava Topinková Knapková ever since. Her father Miroslav Knapek was also a successful rower who took part in the 1976 and 1980 Summer Olympics.

Web links

Commons : Miroslava Knapková  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Miroslava Knapková in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Miroslava Knapková at Worldrowing.com ( FISA database )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Z Knapkové depending Topinková. Olympijská vítězka se vdala. In: www.tyden.cz. October 4, 2015, Retrieved April 15, 2016 (Czech). 
2. ↑ Miroslav Knapek. In: www.sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC, archived from the original on April 18, 2020 ; accessed on April 15, 2016 .