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Martina Sáblíková

Martina Sáblíková
Brno, Joštova, knihkupectví Dobrovský, autogramiáda Martiny Sáblíkové (04).jpg
Personal information
Born (1987-05-27) 27 May 1987 (age 29)
Nové Město na Moravě, Czechoslovakia
Height 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight 54 kg (119 lb)
Sport
Country  Czech Republic
Sport Speed skating, Cycling

Martina Sáblíková (Czech pronunciation: [ˈmarcɪna ˈsaːbliːkovaː]) (born 27 May 1987) is a Czech speed skater, specializing in long distance races. She is an Olympic gold medal winner and a multiple European and World allround champion. She became the first Czech to win two Olympic gold medals at one Winter Games in the 2010 Olympiad. Sáblíková also competes in inline speed skating and road cycling races as a part of her summer preparation for the skating season. In cycling, she focuses especially on individual time trial discipline in which Sáblíková possesses multiple Czech Republic National Championships titles and belongs to world's top 15 female time-trialists. Sáblíková is the elder sister of fellow speedskater Milan Sáblík.

As a junior, Sáblíková already achieved some notable results during international tournaments. In 2005, she came seventh in the 5000 m during the World Single Distance Championships. On 18 November 2005, she skated the 3000 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 3000 m and winning the 5000 m. At the 5000 meter she surprisingly beat favorite Claudia Pechstein.

At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, she finished fourth in the 5000 m, behind Clara Hughes, Claudia Pechstein and Cindy Klassen. During her race against Klassen she was more than three seconds faster in the last round, but eventually missed the bronze medal by a second.


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