Eight difficult races over the course of ten days, plus a sprint on imported snow along the streets of Prague.

The race featured the world’s best cross-country skiers, including the reigning favorite, Norway’s Petter Northug – whose trainer declared as late as before the competition’s last race that he was invincible. But reality proved otherwise. Lukáš Bauer was the clear winner of the penultimate 20-km race, putting him a mere 8 seconds within the Norwegian.

At the start of the race, Bauer overtakes Northug and matches his pace, only to take off even before the steep uphill climb – the race is his. Just before the finish line, he takes a Czech flag from an onlooker and finishes with a lead of 1:20. Bauer, full of adrenaline, waits to shake hands with his opponent. And then there he is, on his knees – literally and figuratively, since all the racers hit the ground, exhausted.

Lukáš Bauer is one of the Czech Republic’s greatest hopes for the Olympic Games in Vancouver, followed by speed skater Martina Sáblíková, who became European all-round champion over the weekend. In a country without a single covered speedskating stadium, Sáblíková’s trainer Novák has managed a small miracle in producing one of today’s best racers.

And another great talent is in the making –Martina’s young friend, Karolina Erbanová. At age 17 she will be competing in the junior category for another three years, but she already managed to defeat all her opponents in the 500m at the European Championships and hopes to take a place on the winner’s podium next to Martina.

Other Czech medal hopefuls this year include the Czech ice hockey team, freestyle skier Nikola Sudová, two-time world skicross champion Tomáš Kraus, ski jumper Antonín Hájek, and combined skier (ski jumping + cross-country race) Pavel Churavý.

Winter sports are exceptionally popular in the Czech Republic, and we bring regular information about the best downhill, cross-country, or ice-skating destinations.