Josef DOSTAL (CZE)

Pepa

Sport is in Dostal’s blood. His mum Eva played basketball and his father Thomas was a Canoe Sprint athlete with both of them representing the country. He is a a five-time world champion. He is interested in fishing and playing the guitar. In Paris, he won the K1 1000 title, his fifth Olympic medal and first gold.

Prague

Athlete

University of Chemistry and Technology: Prague

He first sat in a kayak at age three.

"My father was a kayak coach but he didn't force me to do this sport. I tried many other sports, such as judo, ice hockey, athletics and football. I was good at these sports but they didn't make me happy. Once in a while I would go to the boathouse and paddle for fun. While I was enjoying hunting ducks and watching small fish from the boat, I discovered that kayak had an important place in my heart."

Fishing, alpine skiing, picking mushrooms, football.

Dukla Praha: Czech Republic

Pavel Hottmar [national], CZE; Karel Lestina [personal], CZE

Winning gold medals in the K1 1000m at the 2014 World Championships in Moscow, Russian Federation, and at the 2013 U23 World Championships in Welland, ON, Canada. (baku2015.com, 16 Jun 2015)

Czech ice hockey player Jaromir Jagr

His mother gave him a small Czech flag that he carries with him

"Never give up."

He was named in the Crew of the Year by the Czech Canoe Union in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. (denik.cz, 11 Jan 2016; kanoe.cz, 15 Jan 2015)He was named 2014 Canoeist of the Year by the Czech Canoe Union. (kanoe.cz, 15 Jan 2015)

Olympics: Gold - 1, Silver - 1, Bronze - 3; World Championships: Gold - 5, Silver - 3, Bronze - 3.