Radek Juška (; born 8 March 1993, in Starovičky) is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who competes in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

. He was a silver medallist at the

European Athletics Indoor Championships The European Athletics Indoor Championships is a biennial indoor track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skil ...

in 2015, at which he set a best of .

Career

Raised in Starovičky, in the south-eastern

Břeclav District Břeclav District () is a district in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Břeclav. Administrative division Břeclav District is divided into three administrative districts of municipalities with extended c ...

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. iDNES (2015-03-05). Retrieved on 2015-03-07. Juška made his international debut for the Czech Republic at the

2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2012 World Athletics U20 Championships, World Junior Championships in Athletics was an international Sport of athletics, athletics competition for athletes qualifying as Junior (athletics), juniors (born 1993 or later) which was held at the E ...

. Despite having set a personal best of in June, he was far off this form at the competition and ranked 24th in qualifying with a best jump of . In 2013, he won the Czech under-23 titles in both the long jump and

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down the tr ...

. He followed this up with his first senior national title at the 2014 Czech Indoor Championships. Outdoors, he was the long jump winner at the

Josef Odložil Memorial The Josef Odložil Memorial () is an annual track and field meeting which takes place in June at Stadion Juliska (until 2001 at Stadion Evžena Rošického) in Prague, Czech Republic. The competition was first held in 1994 as a race over 2000&nb ...

in Prague (the country's foremost track meet) with a personal best mark of . He had his senior international debut that year at the 2014 European Team Championships, clearing to take eighth place overall. He gained a wild card selection for the

2014 European Athletics Championships The 2014 European Athletics Championships was held in Zürich, Switzerland, between 12 and 17 August 2014. It was the first time that Switzerland had hosted the European Athletics Championships since 1954 European Athletics Championships, 1954. G ...

, but a torn abdominal muscle suffered at the national championships that year meant he was not fit to compete. Under the tutelage of Josef Karas (a former decathlete), Juška was encouraged to focus on both his

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

and his studies at the

University of Economics, Prague The Prague University of Economics and Business (PUEB) (originally: ''the University of Economics, Prague''; '', VŠE'') is an economics and business-oriented public university located in Prague, Czech Republic. It is the largest university in ...

. He returned to fitness in time for the beginning of the 2015 season and claimed the Czech indoor title for a second time. He was selected for the home team for the

2015 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 2015 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held from 5 to 8 March 2015 in the O2 Arena (Prague), O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic. Bidding process Prague was chosen as the host of the Championships on the European Athletics council ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. Despite entering as an outsider, having a sub-eight-metre personal best, he managed to qualify for the final of the event – the last of the eight qualifiers. In the final he was spurred on by the home crowd and improved his personal best to to claim the silver medal behind Michel Tornéus. This also raised him to seventh in the global seasonal rankings. He was one of three Czech athletes to win medals on the first day of finals at the championships, alongside

Ladislav Prášil Ladislav Prášil (; born 17 May 1990) is a Czechs, Czech shot putter. He won his first major medal, a bronze, at the 2013 European Athletics Indoor Championships, 2013 European Indoor Championships. He repeated this achievement on home soil, c ...

and Eliška Klučinová.

Personal bests

Long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

outdoor – (2017) *

indoor – (2015) *

Triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down the tr ...

outdoor – (2013)

International competitions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Juska, Radek Living people 1993 births Czech male long jumpers People from Břeclav District World Athletics Championships athletes for the Czech Republic Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for the Czech Republic Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games gold medalists for the Czech Republic Czech Athletics Championships winners Medalists at the 2017 Summer Universiade Athletes from the South Moravian Region European Games competitors for the Czech Republic Athletes (track and field) at the 2023 European Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics 21st-century Czech sportsmen