Tomáš Bábek (born 4 June 1987) is a Czech
track cyclist
Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles.
History
Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it wa ...
. He shared the men's sprint title with
Adam Ptáčník and
Denis Špička
Denis Špička (born 29 August 1988 in Ústí nad Orlicí) is a Czech cyclist. He competed in the keirin and men's team sprint at the 2008 Summer Olympics (finishing 13th and 11th respectively), and the keirin race at the 2012 Summer Olympics
...
at the Czech Track Cycling Championships, and later represented the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
at the
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
. On that same year, Babek also claimed the bronze medal in the 1 km time trial at the
European Championships
The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...
in
Pruszków
Pruszków ( yi, פּרושקאָוו) is a city in east-central Poland, situated in the Masovian Voivodeship since 1999. It was previously in Warszawa Voivodeship (1975–1998). Pruszków is the capital of Pruszków County, located along t ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
.
Babek qualified for the Czech squad in the
men's team sprint at the
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
by receiving one of the team's three available berths based on
UCI's selection process from the Track World Rankings. Babek and his teammates Ptacnik and Spicka battled in an opening heat against the U.S. trio of
Michael Blatchford
Michael Benjamin Blatchford (born January 29, 1986 in Cypress, California) is an American professional track cyclist. Considered one of the youngest and most dynamic American sprinters on the present-day track circuit, Blatchford has held two Pan ...
,
Giddeon Massie
Giddeon Massie (born August 27, 1981, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) is an American professional track cyclist. He collected two medals (silver and bronze) each in men's Keirin and sprint at the 2003 Pan American Games, and later represented the U ...
, and
Adam Duvendeck
Jeremy Adam Duvendeck (born October 28, 1981, in Santa Barbara, California) is a retired American professional track cyclist. He represented the United States in two editions of the Olympic Games (2004 and 2008), and later claimed two elite natio ...
with an eleventh-place time in 45.678 and an average speed of 59.109 km/h, failing to advance further to the top eight match round.
Career highlights
;2007
* Czech Track Cycling Championships (1 km time trial),
Brno
Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...
(CZE)
;2008
* Czech Track Cycling Championships (1 km time trial),
Brno
Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...
(CZE)
* Czech Track Cycling Championships (Team sprint with
Adam Ptáčník and
Denis Špička
Denis Špička (born 29 August 1988 in Ústí nad Orlicí) is a Czech cyclist. He competed in the keirin and men's team sprint at the 2008 Summer Olympics (finishing 13th and 11th respectively), and the keirin race at the 2012 Summer Olympics
...
),
Brno
Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...
(CZE)
*
European Championships
The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...
(1 km time trial),
Pruszków
Pruszków ( yi, פּרושקאָוו) is a city in east-central Poland, situated in the Masovian Voivodeship since 1999. It was previously in Warszawa Voivodeship (1975–1998). Pruszków is the capital of Pruszków County, located along t ...
(POL)
* 11th
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
(
Team sprint
The team sprint (also sometimes known as the Olympic sprint) is a track cycling event. Despite its name, it is not a conventional cycling sprint event – it is a three-rider team time trial held over three laps of a velodrome.
The current men's ...
with Adam Ptáčník and Denis Špička),
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
(CHN)
;2010
* 12th
UCI World Championships
The UCI world championships are annual competitions promoted by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to determine world champion cyclists. They are held in several different styles of racing, in a different country each year. Championship winne ...
(Team sprint),
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
(DEN)
* 32nd
UCI World Championships
The UCI world championships are annual competitions promoted by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to determine world champion cyclists. They are held in several different styles of racing, in a different country each year. Championship winne ...
(Sprint),
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
(DEN)
;2012
* Czech Track Cycling Championships (1 km time trial),
Brno
Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...
(CZE)
;2013
* Czech Track Cycling Championships (Keirin),
Brno
Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...
(CZE)
References
External links
*
NBC 2008 Olympics profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Babek, Tomas
1987 births
Living people
Czech male cyclists
Czech track cyclists
Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Olympic cyclists for the Czech Republic
Sportspeople from Brno
Cyclists at the 2019 European Games
European Games medalists in cycling
European Games gold medalists for the Czech Republic
Cyclists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
21st-century Czech people