Vadlejch’s hat trick. The successful javelin thrower is the Czech Athlete of the Year for the third time in a row

He won the award for the year 2023 thanks to the bronze at the World Championships and the victory in the Diamond League, in addition, his performance of 89.51 meters belonged to the longest throw of the season.

He received the trophy for the victory in the traditional poll of the Czech Athletic Association today in Prague.

Thanks to another successful season, Vadlejch received 1405 points in the votes of 141 officials, coaches and journalists.

For a long time, one of the best javelin throwers in the world was satisfied with the past athletics year, even if the big gold eluded him again.

“I would call the 2023 season almost perfect. I managed to win the Diamantovka overall, I had the best performance in the world and there was a medal from the World Championship. It was bronze, but it was there. That was a tiny blip, otherwise it would have been a perfect year,” he said.

Thanks to this, the thirty-three-year-old Vadlejch sovereignly rules the Czech athletes. He won the Athlete of the Year poll by 372 points ahead of Tomáš Staňek, the silver medalist from the European Indoor Championships. The mixed 4×400 meter relay, which won bronze at the World Championships and triumphed at the European Games, finished third.

The quartet of Matěj Krsek, Tereza Petržilková, Patrik Šorm and Lada Vondrová took care of the traditional performance of some of the award-winning athletes today.

Krsek took over the keyboard, Šorm got the guitar, the female part of the team danced and everyone sang the Abba hit Money, Money, Money with Czech lyrics inspired by the still relatively young discipline.

The fourth place among the Czech athletes was the long-distance runner Radek Juška, who finished fifth at the HME and seventh at the world championship.

He left the bronze medalist from the European hall pole vaulter Amália Švábíková close behind

The sixth place in the poll belonged to the fourth-place finisher Vondrová, who helped the mixed relay succeed at the World Championships and with a personal record of 50.92 seconds secured not only the individual semi-final, but also participation in the Olympic Games in Paris. Her partners from the mixed relay, Krsek and Petržilková, took ninth and tenth place.

The runners Tereza Ďurdiaková, who was tenth in the 35-kilometer race at the World Championships, and the hurdler Nikoleta Jíchová were among the fourth-place finishers. She again approached the athletic elite. In third place, the Czech Republic broke the 55-second mark and took 17th place at the World Championships.

Vadlejch’s coach Jan Železný became the coach of the year again. He also surpassed David Sekerák, whose Japanese protégé Haruka Kitaguchiová won both the World Championship and the Diamond League in the javelin throw.

Just like last year, midfielder Jakub Dudycha is the junior of the year. Ondřej Macík, the Czech record holder in the 200 meters, was declared the discovery of the year.