Jiří Čtvrtečka

Jiří Čtvrtečka took up sprint canoeing from an early age and soon became a member of the Czechoslovak junior team. Following a stint in the Army in the early 1960s Čtvrtečka joined the Dukla Praha sports club and set his sights on competing at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. This was not to be, however, after contracting jaundice, which forced him to miss out on essential training for the Games. Despite the initial setback he got back to the water as soon as possible and won bronze in the C1 1,000 metres at the 1967 European Championships. This performance earned him a place on the Olympic team for the 1968 Mexico City Games where he just missed out on medal after finishing fourth in the same event.

In 1970 Čtvrtečka won his first medal at the World Championships with bronze in the C1 1,000 metres. He returned to the Olympics two years later to finish seventh in the same event at the München Games. After the Olympics he then switched to the doubles, forming a strong partnership with compatriot Tomáš Šach. At the World Championships the pair competed in the C2 500 metres, winning bronze in 1974, followed by silver in 1975. Čtvrtečka and Šach then represented Czechoslovakia in both the C2 500 and C2 1,000 metres at the 1976 Montréal Olympics, finishing eighth and sixth, respectively. Following his competitive career Čtvrtečka became a successful coach at Dukla and helped to found the Czech Olympians Club in 1989.