Korunka began professional cross-country skiing in the early 1980s, made his debut in the Cross-Country Skiing World Cup in 1987 and celebrated his first major success at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary . After he only reached rank 28 in the individual over 15 km, he won the bronze medal in the relay together with Radim Nyč , Pavel Benc and Ladislav Švanda . He repeated this success together with Benc, Svanda and Martin Petrásek at the 1989 World Championships in Lahti . At the start of the winter of 1991/92, he stayed behind the points over the 10 km in classic style in the Canadian Silver Star and finished in 40th place. The following day Korunka was able to improve his performance, but missed the points again in 24th. At the following Winter Olympics in Albertville in 1992 , for which he qualified with 14th place in the Thunder Bay World Cup, he finished 17th in the 10 km individual race, before joining Radim Nyč, Pavel Benc and Luboš Buchta finished seventh in the season. At the end of the games Korunka was 13th over the 50 km distance. At the beginning of the 1992/93 season he achieved the first podium of his career with third place in Ramsau am Dachstein . At the Nordic World Ski Championships in Falun in 1993 , when separate teams for the Czech Republic and Slovakia competed for the first time, Korunka achieved a 23rd place over 10 km classic. In the following pursuit he reached 16th place in the final 50 km race, he ran into the top ten and was ninth. In the World Cup, a few days after the World Cup in Lahti, he achieved his third and final World Cup podium in his career with another third place.
Despite rather poor World Cup performances, Korunka was part of the first Czech team at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer . Over 10 km he crossed the finish line in 59th place, and in the following 25 km pursuit he ran in 37th place. With the season he finally finished eighth. In the following winter of 1994/95 it started weakly and was used for the first time in the cross-country skiing Continental Cup on February 4, 1995 . He reached the top 10 twice in Brusson. At the end of the season he traveled with the national team to the 1995 Nordic World Ski Championships in Thunder Bay, despite previously rather mixed results . There he started with 30th place over the 10 km. Over the 50 he came in 31st place. In December he won two FIS races in Bedřichov u Jablonce nad Nisou . In the World Cup, placements in the point ranks were rare despite the new FIS point system . At the 1997 Military World Ski Championships in Valcartier , he finished fourth over 15 km and barely missed a medal. Before that he had competed over 30 and 50 km at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Trondheim in 1997 , but could not achieve top results.
Korunka played his last World Cup in Seefeld in Tirol in February 1999, but had no chance as 60th. Also at the following Nordic World Ski Championships in Ramsau in 1999 , he was only able to place in the midfield. Four weeks after the World Cup, he ended his active career with a third place in the Continental Cup in Lillehammer .
In the Czechoslovak Championships Korunka won once over 50 km (1986) and 15 km (1991) and four times with the relay of Dukla Liberec (1989-1992).
After the end of his career, Korunka started a coaching career and worked as a cross-country ski trainer in his home country.
Placements in the World Cup
World Cup Statistics
The table shows the placements achieved in detail.
1st – 3rd place: Number of podium placements
Top 10: Number of places in the top ten
Points ranks: Number of placements within the point ranks
Starts: Number of races run in the respective discipline
Note: In the distance races, the classification is based on the FIS.
Czechoslovakia Czech Republic
