As early as during , some sportsmen tried to penetrate to abroad. Not only a hunger for freedom in sports drove this effort but also their desire to be free in their private lives.
Tennis
For instance, tennis player Martina Navrátilová was for a long time considered the most noted Czech woman in the world. After she emigrated, her success was intentionally concealed in the former Czechoslovakia. Twenty Wimbledon wins, however, made her a tennis legend once and for all. In addition, as only the third woman she managed to win Grand Slam. Navrátilová was allowed to visit her homeland 11 years later. In spite of that, she has still been connected with the Czech Republic, and Řevnice, the town near Prague were she spent her childhood, named her an honorary citizen. In 2006 Navrátilová definitely ended her tennis career, during which she won 59 Grand Slam titles.
The Czech-American tennis icon Ivan Lendl also had to emigrate to become No. 1. And he succeeded. A native of Ostrava who gained U.S. federal citizenship only after the Velvet revolution in 1992, he is second in the number of consecutive weeks spent at the position of the world No. 1 (in the years 1985 –88 it was157 weeks; Jimmy Connors managed to stay at the top three more weeks) and in total (270, the leader is Pete Sampras with 286 weeks). The triple-champion of the French Open, U.S. Open and double-champion of the Australian Open after his tennis career ended he is successfully pursuing golf.
Hockey
Another in the row of successful Czech natives with foreign passports is the hockey player Robert Holík . A son of the famous Czech hockey rebel, Jaroslav Holík , he is among the most sought-after centers in the National Hockey League. After two seasons in Hartford and 10 years spent in New Jersey, he settled in the New York Rangers club. "Bobby" married an American girl and accepted the U.S. federal citizenship, but in spite of that played for the Czech Republic in the World Cup in 1996.
In general, Czech hockey players are "valuable goods." They have won recognition in Germany, Sweden and Finland, and since 2002 they have been also attacking the Russian superleague. At the beginning, even the Russian contracts were sought after mainly by those who did not manage or did not want to win recognition overseas. But then the invasion of Czech trainers went to Russia and the names like Vladimír Vůjtek, Ivan Hlinka, Radim Rulík and Marek Sykora .
However, the primary goal for the hockey players is still the NHL. The 2005-06 season saw 62 Czechs play for the U.S. and Canadian teams, while even more Czech players were already playing in the farm system. There are now some 20 Czech names in the famous Stanley Cup. Jaroslav Pouzar , the triple winner of the trophy, is among the youngest who played one forward in Edmonton next to Wayne Gretzky. Jiří Hrdina (once he won in the Calgary Flames uniform, twice he won with Pittsburgh) and double champions Jaromír Jágr , Robert Holík and Patrik Eliaš and 2006 winners František Kaberle and Josef Vašíček .
Also the goalie can show off the Stanley Cup. For the chance of his life success he changed teams before the 2001-02 season and went to Detroit, full of experienced-veterans. The popular Hašek, nicknamed "Dominator”, was one of the keys to the Czech Republic’s Olympic victory in 1998 in Nagano. He has twice been named the NHL’s best player and is a six-time Vezina trophy winner. The award is given out to the league’s best goalie.
Statistics were changed also by . The New York Rangers forward, who charmed the hockey world for the first time as a long-haired teenager, when he signed on with Pittsburgh at the beginning of the '90s next to Mario Lemieux, is with his 8 million U.S. dollars per season the best-paid player of the planet. In March 2006, the Czech forward was awarded 1,400 points and thus became the most successful European player in the NHL. In the total rank he is 17th. At the time of exclusion he played in the Czech Republic for the domestic Kladno and thus started up "Jagromania." Later he went to the Russian superleague and his contract with the Siberian Omsk confirmed that he is an ice hockey player who can shine anywhere. Currently, he plays for the New York Rangers.
Other noteworthy players are the back Roman Hamrlík and forward Patrik Štefan , who became draft No. 1 in 1992 or, more precisely, in 1999.
Football
The Czech Republic shook the football world with its success at the European Championships in England in 1996. The silver medal won there was for many players a ticket to play at some of the sport’s most prestigious clubs. The team’s third-place finish in Portugal in 2004 again emphasized the talent of Czech football.
A privileged position is occupied by , the holder of the Golden Ball for the best European football player for 2003. Nedvěd, nicknamed "Grande Paolo," left for Italian Seria A from Sparta Praha, and on the Appenine Peninsula he changed uniforms of Romanian Lazio and Juventus Torino. Nedvěd played with the Czech national team in both England and Portugal. In 2003 Nedvěd was awarded with an array of accolades. He was named Footballer of the Year, the best foreigner in Italy’s Seria A league and the best half in the Champion’s league. After his club Juventus was relegated to second-league play after a bribery affair, Nedved continues to play with the team. During a match against Serbia, Nedvěd made it clear that he would end his national career.
Karel Poborský is a large personality and holds many records playing for the Czech national team. The creative halfback went through Manchester United, Benfica Lisboa and Lazio Roma, to return to the Czech Republic and put on the Sparta captain's band. Currently Poborský is playing for České Budějovice.
is, on the contrary, considered by many commentators as a candidate for the title of No. 1 world goalie. He came to his current club, Chelsea, in the English Premiership League, after stints with Blšany, Sparta and the French club Rennes.
In Germany, the Dortmund duo of Jan Koller and Tomáš Rosický used to be among the Bundesleague stars. In the 2006-07 season, their careers appear to be diverging. Rosický will play for Arsenal while Koller will play for Monaco. Many other Czechs often start for elite European clubs regularly and find themselves playing for the sport’s biggest prizes.
Basketball
Besides the NHL, the Czechs won recognition in another overseas professional contest - the NBA, where Jiří Welsch took after the pivot Jiří Zídek . The U.S. talent-hunters soon recognized his qualities and thus he was chosen in 2002 by the Philadelphia 76ers as the draft 16 but was soon switched to Golden State. In this team, Welsch became the second Czech in the 2002 -03 season who tried the NBA. When the season was over, he was switched to Dallas, but shortly before the start of the new season he became a part of a large "trade," which sent him to Boston. In the 2005-06 season he played for the Milwaukee Bucks before returning to Europe this season to play for Spain’s Unicája Malaga.
Golf
The German professional golf-player Alex Čejka comes from the Czech Republic. He left with his parents to go to the West when he was 5. Now he lives in Florida, participates regularly in PGA tournaments and is among the top 100 golfers in the world.
Volleyball
On the Appenine Peninsula, Czech volleyball also won recognition. The Italian Seria A is, thanks to the high number of foreigners, considered the top-quality contest of the world. Martin Lébl , who plays for Perugia, is among the best-ranked blockers in the Italian league. Marek Novotný is another Czech playing in the elite European volleyball leagues.After six years with Cannes, Novotný now plays for Sisley Treviso.
Domestic contests
Some domestic contests are also attractive. Americans who do not have the chance to get into the NBA are attracted mainly to basketball's Mattoni NBL. We can name, for example, Maurice Whitfield , who ended up obtaining Czech citizenship and representing the Czech Republic. Other basketball players include Craig Callahan, Fred Warrick and James Chavis . The women’s basketball league saw Sophia Young from San Antonio and Deanna Nolan join the Brno basketball club.
There are many foreigners playing also in the football league. The most remarkable discoveries have been the Argentine Lazzaro Liuni in Liberec, followed by the Brazilian Evandro Adauto Da Silva , the forward of Slavia Praha. Mauro Lustrinelli of Switzerland plays for Sparta Prague. However, all contests still show the remains of the former federal state, which is why many Slovaks work in the Czech Republic, and vice versa.
Trainers
Trainers form a separate chapter. The one-sided trend when Czech trainers left for abroad has stopped. One of the biggest sensations in Czech sports was the engagement of the renowned coach Julius Velasco in the volleyball representation in 2002. After the unsuccessful championship in Argentina, Velasco decided not to continue with the team.
Sergey Krutyakov , on the other hand, was much more successful. The Russian rowing trainer, who left his motherland out of his own choice since his ill son needed medical treatment at a clinic in Germany, got to a Racice drain when trying to find a job, where they employed him as a casual laborer. Finally, he managed to get to the Czech representation, and won silver medal at the Olympic Games in Athens. A similar miracle, which put the traditional Czech event back on the top, was worked by a new trainer of ski jumps, Vasja Bajc from Slovenia, whose trainee, Jakub Janda, was overall winner of the 2005-06 World Cup season. In the end however, Bajc had to quit the national team and was replaced by the Austrain Richard Schallert .