Pavol Blažek

Pavol Blažek (born July 9, 1958 in Trnava ) is a former Slovak athlete who competed for the ČSSR until 1992. With a height of 1.68 m, his competition weight was 58 kg.

Pavol Blažek's greatest success was the European title in the 20 km walk in 1990.

Career

Blažek won his first international medal at the European Championships in Athens in 1982 , when he won bronze behind the Spaniard José Marín and his Slovak compatriot Jozef Pribilinec . In the following years Blažek was mostly in the shadow of his compatriot. Only in 1981, 1990 and 1991 he became champion of the ČSSR over 20 km. In 1990 he set the world fastest time with 1:18:13 h over this distance. At the European Championships in Split in 1990 , he won ahead of Spaniard Daniel Plaza and French Thierry Toutain .

The sports soldier took part in four Olympic Games and five world championships, often both over 20 and over 50 km . In his exceptionally long career, he was not disqualified in any major competition, and only gave up over 50 km in the heat of Athens in 1982.

Placements

• 1980 20 km walking: 14th place in 1:35:30 h Olympic Games
• 1980 50 km walking: 10th place in 4:16:26 h Olympic Games
• 1982 20 km walking: 3rd place in 1:26:13 h European Championships
• 1983 20 km walking: 6th place in 1:21:54 h World Championships
• 1983 50 km walking: 17th place in 4:06:49 h World Championships
• 1986 20 km walking: 6th place in 1:23:26 h European Championships
• 1987 20 km walking: 11th place in 1:24:37 h World Championships
• 1987 50 km walking: 18th place in 3:58:43 h World Championships
• 1988 5000 m walking: 9th place in 19: 03.82 min European Indoor Championships
• 1988 20 km walking: 15th place in 1:22:39 h Olympic Games
• 1988 50 km walking: 12th place in 3:47:31 h Olympic Games
• 1989 5000 m walking: 4th place in 18: 55.78 min European Indoor Championships
• 1989 5000 m walking: 6th place in 18:41:34 min indoor world championships
• 1990 5000 m walking: 4th place in 19: 15.78 min European Indoor Championships
• 1990 20 km walking: 1st place in 1:22:05 h European Championships
• 1991 20 km walking: 17th place in 1:22:34 h World Championships
• 1992 20 km walking: 17th place in 1:29:23 h Olympic Games
• 1992 50 km walking: 29th place in 4:22:23 h Olympic Games
• 1993 20 km walking: 15th place in 1:25:31 h World Championships
• 1994 5000 m walking: 6th place in 19: 14.00 min European Indoor Championships
• 1994 50 km walking: 9th place in 3:49:44 h European Championships
• 1995 50 km walking: 17th place in 4:03:45 h World Championships
• 1996 50 km walking: 46th place in 1:29:41 h Olympic Games

literature

• Peter Matthews (Hrag.): Athletics 1992. Windsor 1992m ISBN 1-873-05711-3 .
• Ekkehard zur Megede: The Modern Olympic Century 1896-1996 Track and Field Athletics. German Society for Athletics Documentation, Berlin 1999.