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Two stars of canoeing found themselves among the top 10 Czech sportspersons. Canoe sprinter Martin Fuksa was seventh and Jiri Prskavec eighth. Overall World Cup winner Vit Prindis was 17^th and bronze medallist of the European Games Vaclav Chaloupka was 28^th. The men’s K1 team that won gold medal at Canoe Slalom World Championships was 6^th in the team’s category, and Bara Galuškova, Junior World Champion in K1 and Junior European Champion in kayak cross was named best junior of the year 2023.

 

Due to the tragic events at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University, the evening took place without a television broadcast or a cultural program. “Everyone could see that they were affected by the event, that everyone was sad. We expressed our deep condolences with a minute of silence and black ribbons,” explained Martin Fuksa, this year's MC1 1000 metres World Champion. “I'm happy to be in the top ten, it's nice. On the other hand, I honestly don't care much about these polls. What is important to me is how I paddle on the water, and I do everything for that, because I know that I can influence it 100%, while I will not influence the poll. But it was nice to be there, to congratulate the other athletes.”

 

The title from the European Games and the silver from the World Championship brought Jiri Prskavec the eighth place. “I am very happy for the eighth place. The season was really great for me and I'm very happy that I made it into the top ten. However, the Sportsman of the Year really was held in a very sad tone, it was not the Sportsman in the true sense of the word. We all appreciated each other's performances and congratulated each other, but then calmly headed home to our loved ones, because they were the ones we wanted to be with on such a sad day in Czech history,” said Prskavec.

 

Bara Galuškova, kayak junior world champion and junior European champion in kayak cross, was also awarded for her achievements in canoe slalom this year. She was named junior of the year. “This award was a beautiful end to the past season for me. Because I didn't expect it at all, it was all the more beautiful experience for me, which I will remember for a long time. However, I don't like to talk about my success here when many people are going through difficult times right now. If I could delete the day on which the tragedy and announcement took place, I would not hesitate,” said Galuškova.

 

Tennis player Marketa Vondrackova was selected best athlete of the year, while men’s U20 ice hockey team took the award in team category.