- Martina Sáblíková
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Martina Sáblíková 
Martina Sáblíková, Vancouver, 2010Personal information Born 27 May 1987
Nové Město na Moravě, CzechoslovakiaHeight 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) Weight 54 kg (120 lb; 8.5 st) Sport Country 
Czech RepublicSport Speed skating Medal recordWomen's speed skating Competitor for Czech RepublicOlympic Games Gold 2010 Vancouver 3000 m Gold 2010 Vancouver 5000 m Bronze 2010 Vancouver 1500 m World Championships Gold 2007 Salt Lake City 3000 m Gold 2007 Salt Lake City 5000 m Gold 2008 Nagano 5000 m Gold 2009 Hamar Allround Gold 2009 Vancouver 5000 m Gold 2010 Heerenveen Allround Gold 2011 Inzell 5000 m Silver 2009 Vancouver 3000 m Silver 2011 Inzell 3000 m Bronze 2011 Calgary Allround European Championships Gold 2007 Collalbo Allround Gold 2010 Hamar Allround Gold 2011 Collalbo Allround Bronze 2008 Kolomna Allround Bronze 2009 Heerenveen Allround World Junior Championships Silver 2006 Erfurt Allround Martina Sáblíková (Czech pronunciation: [ˈmarcɪna ˈsaːbliːkovaː] (
listen)) (born 27 May 1987 in Nové Město na Moravě, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech speedskater, specializing in long distance races. She is an Olympic gold medal winner and a multiple World champion. She is the elder sister of fellow speedskater Milan Sáblík.Contents
Career
As a junior, Sáblíková already achieved some notable results during international tournaments. In 2005, she came seventh in the 5,000 m during the World Single Distance Championships. On 18 November 2005, she skated the 3,000 m junior world record 4:00.69 in Salt Lake City. She became Czech youth champion in 1999, 2001, and 2004.
In the 2006 European allround championships in Hamar, she finished fourth overall, by placing third at the 3,000 m and winning the 5,000 m. At the 5,000 meter she surprisingly beat favorite Claudia Pechstein.
At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, she finished fourth in the 5,000 m, behind Clara Hughes, Claudia Pechstein, and Cindy Klassen. During her race against Cindy Klassen she was more than 3 seconds faster in the last round, but eventually missed the bronze medal by a second.
Because of Sáblíková's results, her position on the all time world ranking, the Adelskalender, increased from the 94th to the 15th place within a year. In March 2006, she skated a world record at the 10,000 m, beating Clara Hughes's former best time by more than 11 seconds.
The next year she won her first major tournament, the 2007 European Allround Speed Skating Championships in Collalbo, with an outdoor world record samalog score 162.954 points. She won both the 3,000 m and the 5,000 m in an outdoor world record time. She did not perform so well at the World alround championships in Heerenveen, where she finished fifth, but she managed to win the 2006–07 Speed Skating World Cup on the 3,000 and 5,000 m track. At the end of the season she won two gold medals at the 2007 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships in Salt Lake City on 3,000 m and 5,000 m tracks. She also beat here the 5,000 m track world record and set it for 6:45.61, 1.3 seconds faster than the previous record of Claudia Pechstein.
On 15 March 2007, Sáblíková became the first female speedskater to skate a 10,000 m below 14 minutes when she did 13:48.33 in Calgary.[1] She improved her own one year old world record by almost 20 seconds and this unbelievable result belonged to top 100 men all time. In December 2007, she took the 18th place in the poll European Sportsperson of the Year of the Polish Press Agency.[2] She also won the title of the Sportsperson of the Year of the Czech Republic twice – in 2007 and 2009.[3]
One week before the start of the 2007–08 World Cup season Sáblíková fell during her training, and fractured her humerus and stretched ligaments.[4] Although the injury limited her training in the beginning, she had an excellent season, and finally got the title with 6 out of 7 world cup wins (including the final) at the 3,000 m and 5,000 m track.[5] She also finished 9th at the 1,500 m track.[6]
On 13 January, she took bronze at the 2008 European allround championships in Kolomna, Russia. On 12 January, the first day of the event, she improved her personal best at the 500 m track, her weakest distance, skating the time of 40.58 seconds. However, it was still too slow to compete with the best skaters, and so she finally finished 3rd despite winning the 3,000 m and 5,000 m distances.[7] [8] On 10 February she finished 5th at the World Allround Championships in Heerenveen, again winning the 5,000 m track but with a poor 500 m track result.[9]
On 9 March 2008 she won gold at the 5,000 m track at the World Single Distance Championships in Nagano, Japan.[10] However, she was very disappointed with her 3,000 m performance two days before, when she finished 4th.[11]
On 11 January 2009 she repeated her previous bronze performance at the European allround championships[12] despite her traditionally weak performance at the 500 m track and surprising 4th place at the 3,000 m track.[13] However on 8 February she took gold at the World allround championships in Hamar after setting new Czech national record at the 500 m track 40.28 seconds and winning the 3,000 m and 5,000 m tracks. It was the first world alround medal in her career.[14][15] On the 1 February 2009 Martina Sáblíková and her fellow Czech competitors Andrea Jirků and Karolína Erbanová won the team pursuit competition at the World Cup Final in Erfurt, setting new Czech national record for 3:05.32. After the leading Dutch team did not finish the race, they also won the whole 2008/2009 World Cup.[16]
At the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver (2010), Sáblíková won three medals, two golds (3000 and 5000 metres) and one bronze (1500 metres).
Martina Sáblíková and Milan Sáblík are a rare example of sister and brother both holding world records in the same sport at the same time; Martina holds the (senior) world records in the 5,000 m and 10,000 m events (both from March 2007), while Milan shares the junior world record for the team pursuit with fellow Czech junior skaters Pavel Kulma and Zdeněk Haselberger (from November 2007). Sáblíková's successes are even more surprising given that there is no speedskating stadium in the Czech Republic. Because of this, Sáblíková's coach Petr Novák had to devise several unorthodox but successful training methods.
Personal records Women's speed skating Distance Time Date Location Notes 500 m 39.49 2011-02-12 Calgary 1000 m 1:17.36 2009-11-28 Calgary 1500 m 1:54.55 2007-03-03 Calgary 3000 m 3:55.55 2011-02-12 Calgary 5000 m 6:42.66 2011-02-18 Salt Lake City WR 10000 m* 13:48.33 2007-03-15 Calgary Best World performance [17] *=not an official distance for women, so no official World record
In-line skating and cycling
Martina Sáblíková also competed in several inline speed skating and cycling races as a part of her summer preparation for the skating season. In 2004, she finished 16th at the Junior Inline Speed Skating World Championships on the 20 km track in Sulmona. In 2006, she won the marathon (42.2 km) at the Czech Inline Speed Skating Championships in Plzeň and in 2007 the halfmarathon (21.6 km) in Ostrava.[18] In 2007, she also took bronze in individual time trial on the 24 km track at the European U23-Junior Road Cycling Championships in Sofia and another bronze on the 18 km track at the Czech Road Cycling Championships in Žďár nad Sázavou. In 2010 she takes gold at the Czech Road and Time Trial National Championship .[19]
References
- ^ World record Sablikova, www.speedskatingworld.org March 15, 2007
- ^ "Evropským sportovcem roku je opět Federer, bodovala i Sáblíková" (in Czech). Sport.cz (Právo, Seznam.cz). 26 December 2007. http://www.sport.cz/clanek/122485-evropskym-sportovcem-roku-je-opet-federer-bodovala-i-sablikova.html. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
- ^ Beránek, Jaroslav (12 January 2008). "Sportovní královnou roku je Sáblíková" (in Czech). Idnes.cz (MAFRA a.s). http://sport.idnes.cz/sportovni-kralovnou-roku-je-sablikova-dyb-/sporty.asp?c=A080111_172406_sporty_ber. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
- ^ "Sáblíková se zranila, její start ve SP je nejistý" (in Czech). Idnes.cz (MAFRA a.s). 2 November 2007. http://sport.idnes.cz/sablikova-se-zranila-jeji-start-ve-sp-je-nejisty-fto-/sporty.asp?c=A071102_120415_sporty_bur. Retrieved 2008-03-11.
- ^ "Sáblíková vyhrála finálový závod SP" (in Czech). Idnes.cz (MAFRA a.s). 22 February 2008. http://sport.idnes.cz/sablikova-vyhrala-finalovy-zavod-sp-d7t-/sporty.asp?c=A080222_194713_sporty_ber. Retrieved 2008-03-11.
- ^ "Sáblíková byla na 1500 m devátá" (in Czech). Idnes.cz (MAFRA a.s). 23 February 2008. http://sport.idnes.cz/sablikova-byla-na-1500-m-devata-d1r-/sporty.asp?c=A080223_160429_sporty_kal. Retrieved 2008-03-11.
- ^ "Sáblíková získala na ME bronz ve víceboji" (in Czech). Idnes.cz (MAFRA a.s). 13 January 2008. http://sport.idnes.cz/sablikova-ziskala-na-me-bronz-ve-viceboji-fpu-/sporty.asp?c=A080113_125931_sport_oh_ps. Retrieved 2008-01-13.
- ^ "Sáblíková má zlato, na ME vyhrála 3 kilometry" (in Czech). Idnes.cz (MAFRA a.s). 13 January 2008. http://sport.idnes.cz/sablikova-ma-zlato-na-me-vyhrala-3-kilometry-fee-/sporty.asp?c=A080112_122441_sporty_ps. Retrieved 2008-01-13.
- ^ "Sáblíková vyhrála pět kilometrů, celkově je pátá" (in Czech). Idnes.cz (MAFRA a.s). 10 February 2008. http://sport.idnes.cz/sablikova-vyhrala-pet-kilometru-celkove-je-pata-ft1-/sporty.asp?c=A080210_140244_sporty_bur. Retrieved 2008-03-11.
- ^ "Sáblíková obhájila titul mistryně světa!" (in Czech). Idnes.cz (MAFRA a.s). 9 March 2008. http://sport.idnes.cz/sablikova-obhajila-titul-mistryne-sveta-ffe-/sporty.asp?c=A080308_205617_sporty_bur. Retrieved 2008-03-11.
- ^ "Kouč Sáblíkové: Trojka byla naší velkou prohrou" (in Czech). Idnes.cz (MAFRA a.s). 11 March 2008. http://sport.idnes.cz/kouc-sablikove-trojka-byla-nasi-velkou-prohrou-frz-/sporty.asp?c=A080311_132748_sporty_bur. Retrieved 2008-03-11.
- ^ "Skvělá Sáblíková. Obhájila bronz z ME ve vícebojích a vyhrála pětku" (in Czech). Idnes.cz (MAFRA a.s). 11 January 2009. http://sport.idnes.cz/skvela-sablikova-obhajila-bronz-z-me-ve-vicebojich-a-vyhrala-petku-1cp-/sporty.asp?c=A090111_141145_sporty_bur. Retrieved 2009-02-08.
- ^ "Sáblíková je v polovině víceboje čtvrtá. K ´malé´ medaili jí chybělo 0,1 vteřiny" (in Czech). Idnes.cz (MAFRA a.s). 10 January 2009. http://sport.idnes.cz/sablikova-je-v-polovine-viceboje-ctvrta-k-male-medaili-ji-chybelo-0-1-vteriny-1uu-/sporty.asp?c=A090110_143230_sporty_parc=A090111_141145_sporty_bur. Retrieved 2009-02-08.
- ^ "Sáblíková vede po dvou disciplínách MS ve víceboji v Hamaru" (in Czech). Idnes.cz (MAFRA a.s). 7 February 2009. http://sport.idnes.cz/sablikova-vede-po-dvou-disciplinach-ms-ve-viceboji-v-hamaru-poc-/sporty.asp?c=A090207_132028_sporty_rou. Retrieved 2009-02-08.
- ^ "Rychlobruslařka Sáblíková je mistryní světa ve čtyřboji" (in Czech). Idnes.cz (MAFRA a.s). 8 February 2009. http://sport.idnes.cz/rychlobruslarka-sablikova-je-mistryni-sveta-ve-ctyrboji-pzo-/sporty.asp?c=A090208_131138_sporty_rou. Retrieved 2009-02-08.
- ^ "České družstvo rychlobruslařek vyhrálo poprvé v historii stíhací závod" (in Czech). MAFRA a.s. 1 February 2009. http://sport.idnes.cz/ceske-druzstvo-rychlobruslarek-vyhralo-poprve-v-historii-stihaci-zavod-1qv-/sporty.asp?c=A090201_165030_lyzovani_par. Retrieved 2009-02-08.
- ^ List of speed skating results
- ^ "Martina Sáblíková — sportovní výsledky: In-line bruslení". Official website of Martina Sáblíková and Novis Team. http://www.martinasablikova.cz/vysledky-in-line. Retrieved 2007-09-06. (Czech)
- ^ "Martina Sáblíková — sportovní výsledky: Cyklistika". Official website of Martina Sáblíková and Novis Team. http://www.martinasablikova.cz/vysledky-in-line. Retrieved 2007-09-06. (Czech)
External links
- Martina Sáblíková - official website
- Martina Sáblíková at SkateResults.com
- Photos and facts of Martina Sáblíková
- AP Winter Games Profile: Martina Sablikova
- Associated Press: Czech Republic's Sablikova captures women's 3,000
Awards Preceded by
Shani DavisOscar Mathisen Award
2010Succeeded by
IncumbentOlympic champions in women's 3000 m speed skating 1960: Lidiya Skoblikova · 1964: Lidiya Skoblikova · 1968: Ans Schut · 1972: Stien Baas-Kaiser · 1976: Tatyana Averina · 1980: Bjørg Eva Jensen · 1984: Andrea Schöne · 1988: Yvonne van Gennip · 1992: Gunda Niemann · 1994: Svetlana Bazhanova · 1998: Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann · 2002: Claudia Pechstein · 2006: Ireen Wüst · 2010: Martina SáblíkováOlympic champions in women's 5000 m speed skating 1988: Yvonne van Gennip · 1992: Gunda Niemann · 1994: Claudia Pechstein · 1998: Claudia Pechstein · 2002: Claudia Pechstein · 2006: Clara Hughes · 2010: Martina SáblíkováWorld Champions in Women's 3000 m Speed Skating 1996: Gunda Niemann • 1997: Gunda Niemann • 1998: Gunda Niemann • 1999: Gunda Niemann • 2000: Claudia Pechstein • 2001: Gunda Niemann • 2003: Anni Friesinger • 2004: Claudia Pechstein • 2005: Cindy Klassen • 2007: Martina Sáblíková • 2008: Kristina Groves • 2009: Renate Groenewold • 2011: Ireen WüstWorld Champions in Women's 5000 m Speed Skating 1996: Claudia Pechstein • 1997: Gunda Niemann • 1998: Gunda Niemann • 1999: Gunda Niemann • 2000: Gunda Niemann • 2001: Gunda Niemann • 2003: Claudia Pechstein • 2004: Clara Hughes • 2005: Anni Friesinger • 2007: Martina Sáblíková • 2008: Martina Sáblíková • 2009: Martina Sáblíková • 2011: Martina SáblíkováCategories:- Living people
- 1987 births
- Czech speed skaters
- Olympic bronze medalists for the Czech Republic
- Olympic gold medalists for the Czech Republic
- Olympic speed skaters of the Czech Republic
- People from Žďár nad Sázavou District
- Speed skaters at the 2006 Winter Olympics
- Speed skaters at the 2010 Winter Olympics
- Sports world record holders
- Olympic medalists in speed skating
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