Czech Republic at the 2012 Summer Olympics
| Czech Republic at the 2012 Summer Olympics |
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| IOC code | CZE | ||||||||
| NOC | Czech Olympic Committee | ||||||||
| Website |
www |
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| in London | |||||||||
| Competitors | 133 in 19 sports | ||||||||
| Flag bearer |
Petr Koukal (opening) Barbora Špotáková (closing) |
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Medals Ranked 19th |
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| Summer Olympics appearances (overview) | |||||||||
| Other related appearances | |||||||||
 Bohemia (1900–1912) Czechoslovakia (1920–1992) |
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| Qualified for the quarterfinals |
Czech Republic competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's fifth appearance at the Summer Olympics after gaining its independence from the former Czechoslovakia. The Czech Olympic Committee sent a total of 133 athletes to the Games, 68 men and 65 women, to compete in 19 sports.
Czech Republic left London with a total of 10 medals (4 gold, 3 silver, and 3 bronze), failing only one bronze short of the total achieved in Atlanta. This was in stark contrast with the zero medal tally of the neighbouring Austria, a nation of roughly comparable size. Finishing the nineteenth position in the medal standings was the second best performance for the Czech Republic in the post-Czechoslovak era.
Among the nation's medalists were Barbora Špotáková, who successfully defended her Olympic title in women's javelin throw, and rower Ondřej Synek, who managed to repeat his silver medal in men's single sculls. Three Czech athletes won Olympic gold medals for the first time in history: single sculls rower Miroslava Knapková, modern pentathlete David Svoboda, and mountain biker Jaroslav Kulhavý. Several Czech athletes, however, missed out of medal standings in the finals, including rifle shooter and defending champion Kateřina Emmons, and javelin thrower Vítězslav Veselý.
For the first time in its history, the Czech House (located in the Business Design Centre in borough of Islington) had become accessible to the public (i.e. not only the team members and VIPs), attracting over 78,000 visitors during the Olympics. In a brief comparison of selected national centres, AP news agency even awarded this project an imaginary "gold medal". A moving sculpture by David Černý named London Booster (a life-sized London double-decker bus doing push-ups with humanoid arms) was a major feature outside the Czech House. Meanwhile, Czech presentation relied heavily on eccentricity. For example, the official outfit, in which Czech athletes paraded during the opening ceremonies (and some also entered podiums), featured bright blue Wellington boots (a pun on the stereotypically unstable British weather).
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