Zelezny voted
Czech sportsperson of the year
AFP
21 December 2000 – Prague - Triple Olympic javelin champion Jan Zelezny, who was named IAF Male Athlete of the Year last month, was honoured at home Thursday when he was voted Czech sportsperson of the year.
Zelezny, a 34-year-old former army colonel, ignored back and elbow pains to become the first javelin thrower to win three Olympic titles with the gold medal at the Sydney Games in September.
He won his golds in consecutive Olympics in 1992, 1996 and 2000. He also won silver in Seoul in 1988 before embarking on his gold spree.
Zelezny came back from a serious shoulder injury in 1998 to compete in Sydney and when his great rival Steve Backley of Britain broke the eight-year-old Olympic record with 89.85 metres in the second round, Zelezny came back in the following round a 90.17 effort.
Zelezny, came in ahead of double Olympic canoe/kayak champion Stepanka Hilgertova in second place, with Olympic decathlon silver-medallist Roman Sebrle in third in the annual Czech awards.
Top ten Czech sportspeople of the year:
1. Jan Zelezny (Javelin) 2190pts
2. Stepanka Hilgertova (Canoe/kayak) 1757
3. Roman Sebrle (Decathlon) 1656
4. Jaromir Jagr (Ice hockey) 1170
5. Rudolf Kraj (Boxing) 1106
6. Jan Rehula (Triathlon) 1085
7. Pavel Nedved (Football) 929
8. Tomas Dvorak (Decathlon) 841
9. Petr Malek (Archery) 737
10. Daniel Malek (Swimming) 610
