Radka Kovaříková (born 26 February 1975) is a Czech former competitive

pair skater Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...

. With

René Novotný René Novotný (born 10 June 1963) is a Czech former competitive pair skater. With Radka Kovaříková, he is the 1995 World champion and 1995 European silver medalist. Personal life Novotný was born on 10 June 1963 in Brno. He was married ...

, she is the 1995 World champion and 1995 European silver medalist.

Personal life

Kovaříková was born on 6 February 1975 in Brno. She and

were engaged in 1993 and married on June 1, 1996. In 2011, Kovaříková confirmed that they had divorced. She is married to the director of Cinderella on Ice, Jindřich Šimek, with whom she has a daughter, Klára.

Career

Kovaříková teamed up with

in 1988.

1989–1990 season

They won the 1989 Prague Skate and took bronze at three events – the 1989

Nebelhorn Trophy The Nebelhorn Trophy is an international senior-level figure skating competition organized by the Deutsche Eislauf-Union and held annually in Oberstdorf, Germany. It became part of the ISU Challenger Series in the 2014–15 season. The competit ...

1989 Grand Prix International de Paris The 1989 Grand Prix International de Paris was held in Paris. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Results Men Ladies Pairs Ice dancing External links Results {{Trophé ...

, and 1989 Skate Electric. The pair placed sixth at the 1990 European Championships in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Soviet Union, and 8th at the 1990 World Championships in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

, Canada.

1990–1991 season

Kovaříková/Novotný won silver at the

1990 Skate America The 1990 Skate America was held at the Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a di ...

, bronze at the

1990 Nations Cup The 1990 Bofrost Cup on Ice, Nations Cup was held in Gelsenkirchen on November 15–17. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of single skating, men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Results Men Ladies Pairs Ice d ...

, and bronze at the 1990 Skate Electric. They placed fourth at the 1991 European Championships in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

, Bulgaria, and sixth at the 1991 World Championships in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, Germany.

1991–1992 season

Kovaříková/Novotný received the silver medal at the 1991 Grand Prix International de Paris, bronze at the

1991 Nations Cup The 1991 Nations Cup was held in Gelsenkirchen. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that ...

, and silver at the 1991 NHK Trophy. They placed third in the short program, fourth in the free skate, and fourth overall at the 1992 European Championships in

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...

, Switzerland. They finished fourth at the

1992 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 64 , athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women) , events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines) , opening = 8 February 1992 , closing = 23 February 1992 , opened_by = President François Mitterrand , cauldron ...

Albertville Albertville (; Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile'') is a subprefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. It is best known for hosting the 1992 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. In 2018, the commune had ...

, France, having ranked fourth in both segments. They concluded their third season at the 1992 World Championships in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

. Ranked third after the short program, they overtook Canada's Isabelle Brasseur /

Lloyd Eisler Lloyd Edgar Eisler, MSM, (born April 28, 1963) is a former Canadian pairs skater. With partner Isabelle Brasseur, he is the 1992 and 1994 Olympic bronze medallist and the 1993 World Champion. Early partnerships and success Eisler first comp ...

for the silver medal behind Natalia Mishkutionok /

Artur Dmitriev Artur Valeryevich Dmitriev (russian: Артур Валерьевич Дмитриев; born 21 January 1968) is a Russian former pair skater who competed internationally for the Soviet Union, the Unified Team, and Russia. He is a two-time Olymp ...

(CIS). They were coached by Ivan Rezek until the end of the season.

1992–1993 season

In autumn 1992, Kovaříková/Novotný moved to train in the United States, choosing

Irina Rodnina Irina Konstantinovna Rodnina ( rus, Ирина Константиновна Роднина, p=ɪˈrʲinə kənstɐnˈtʲinəvnə rədʲnʲɪˈna; born 12 September 1949) is a Russian politician and retired figure skater, who is the only pair sk ...

as their coach. They took silver at two events, the 1992 Skate America and

1992 Grand Prix International de Paris The 1992 Grand Prix International de Paris was held at the Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Results Men Ladies Pairs Ice d ...

. Ranked fifth in the short and third in the free, they finished fourth at the 1993 European Championships in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

, Finland. They placed sixth in the short, fourth in the free, and fourth overall at the 1993 World Championships in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

, Czech Republic.

1993–1994 season

Kovaříková/Novotný received silver medals at the

1993 Skate Canada International The 1993 Skate Canada International was held in Ottawa, Ontario on November 4–7. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a ...

and 1993 NHK Trophy. They placed third in the short program and fourth in the free skate at the European Championships in

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 ...

, Denmark; they finished just off the podium for the fourth consecutive year. In February 1994, they placed sixth at the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

Hamar Hamar is a town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the traditional region of Hedmarken. The town is located on the shores of Mjøsa, Norway's largest lake ...

, Norway, having ranked fifth in the short and sixth in the free. They ended their season with a 5th-place result at the 1994 World Championships in Chiba, Japan.

1994–1995 season

Kovaříková/Novotný won bronze at the

1994 Skate America The 1994 Skate America was held at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on October 26–31. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ic ...

and silver at the

1994 NHK Trophy The 1994 NHK Trophy was held at the Morioka Ice Arena in Morioka on December 8–11. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of single skating, men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Results Men Ladies Pairs Ice danci ...

. At the 1995 European Championships in Dortmund, Germany, the pair placed first in the short program and second in the free skate. They received the silver medal behind Germany's

Mandy Wötzel Mandy Wötzel (born 21 July 1973) is a German former pair skater who represented East Germany and later Germany in international competition. With partner Ingo Steuer, she is the 1998 Olympic bronze medalist, the 1997 World champion, the 1995 ...

Ingo Steuer Ingo Steuer (born 1 November 1966) is a German pair skater and skating coach. With Mandy Wötzel, he is the 1998 Olympic bronze medalist, the 1997 World champion, the 1995 European champion, and a four-time German national champion. As a c ...

. Ranked first in both segments, they won gold at the 1995 World Championships in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, England, ahead of Russia's

Evgenia Shishkova Evgenia Vasilievna Shishkova (russian: Евгения Васильевна Шишкова; born 18 December 1972) is a Russian figure skating coach and former competitor. With her husband Vadim Naumov, she is the 1994 World champion and the 199 ...

Vadim Naumov Vadim Vladimirovich Naumov (russian: Вадим Владимирович Наумов; born 7 April 1969) is a Russian former pair skater. With his wife Evgenia Shishkova, he is the 1994 World champion and the 1995–96 Champions Series Final ch ...

Professional career

Kovaříková/Novotný turned professional in 1995. They would win the World Professional Championships in 1995 and 1997. The pair toured with Stars on Ice for one season (1996-97) and continued to skate in shows around the world for a number of years.

Results

; With Novotný

References

External links

Navigation

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovarikova, Radka Czech female pair skaters Czechoslovak female pair skaters Olympic figure skaters of the Czech Republic Figure skaters at the 1994 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1992 Winter Olympics 1975 births Living people World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists Figure skaters from Brno