Tomáš Dvořák

Tomáš Dvořák, 2005 in Helsinki

Tomáš Dvořák ( [ tɔma ː ʃ dvɔr̝a ː k], born May 11, 1972 in Zlín) is a Czech decathlete. He is a three time World Champion.

Life

Dvořák began with the decathlon in 1990 when he was drafted into the Czech military. His breakthrough was winning the bronze medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta behind the German Frank Busemann. 1997 in Athens, in 1999 in Seville and 2001 in Edmonton, he was three times world champion in the decathlon. In between a let down was the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, where he was sixth only.

After numerous injuries, he came to the 2003 World Championships in Paris back again, won fourth place but no medal. At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, he tried again to win the coveted Olympic gold, but resigned on the first day after the 100 - meter race from injured.

On 3 and 4 July 1999 Tomáš Dvořák improved the all-around European Cup in Prague the world record by the American Dan O'Brien by over 100 points to 8994 points. Since he was only focused on the time that he needed to break the world record, he cheered already in the final meters. Thus he missed the chance to surpass the first decathlete after the points table in force since 1985, the limit of 9000 points. This two years later succeeded then his countryman Roman Šebrle.

Tomáš Dvořák, is married in professional sports teacher and father of three daughters. The Czech footballer Pavel Nedvěd trained with him for years and his methods, and thus made ​​his international breakthrough.

Awards

• European Athlete of the Year 1999
• European Athlete of the Year 1999