Pavel Maslák (, born 21 February 1991) is a Czech sprinter who specialises in the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

and

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is o ...

. He is the only athlete in history who has managed to win the 400 m title at the World Indoor Championships at three consecutive championships. Maslák is the first Czech to have run 400 metres under 45 seconds outdoor and under 46 seconds indoor.

Personal life

Pavel Maslák was born on 21 February 1991 in

Havířov Havířov (; pl, ) is a city in Karviná District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 69,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the region. Havířov lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

Career

He is a member of Dalibor Kupka's training group at ASC Dukla Praha. At the age of 20, Maslák won the 400 m bronze medal at the

2011 European Athletics U23 Championships [] The 8th European Athletics U23 Championships were held on 14–17 July 2011 in the Městský stadion (Ostrava), Městský stadion in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Russia topped the medal table with 20 medals in total, including 9 golds (after revisi ...

and was a semi-finalist in the 200 m at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in th ...

. The next year, he finished fifth in the final of the 400 m at the

2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was the 14th edition of the global-level indoor track and field competition and was held between March 9–11, 2012 at the Ataköy Athletics Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. It was the first of fou ...

. In May 2012, Maslák set the Czech record in 400 m. His time of 45.31 cut almost half a second off the time reached by Karel Kolář at the same venue — Rošický Stadium — in 1978.Czech and Turkish records, European leads for Stambolova, Harrer, Gollnow and Pavey

European Athletics The European Athletic Association (more commonly known as European Athletics) is the governing body for athletics in Europe. It is one of the six Area Associations of the world's athletics governing body World Athletics. European Athletics has 5 ...

. Retrieved on 2012-05-21. In June 2012, he further improved the record by clocking 45.17 in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

. At the 2012 European Championships, Maslák won 400 m gold medal in a time of 45.24. At

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, Maslák competed in the 200 and 400 m events. In the

, he advanced from heats by setting a new national record and personal best of 44.91 but did not manage to repeat the feat in semi-finals and finished fifth in his run. In the

, Maslák finished fourth in Heat 5 in a time of 20.67 and did not progress further. In his last race of the 2012 season, Maslák set a national record of 20.59 in 200 metres dash. At 2013 European Indoor Championships in

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

, Pavel Maslák won a gold medal in

distance. In final, he slashed almost half a second from his personal best, improving it to 45.66. As a part of the Czech 4 x 400 metres relay team, he added a bronze medal. At the 2013 World Championships, he achieved his best outdoor World Championship finish of 5th. He won his first indoor world title in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

During the 2016 season Maslák won gold in the 400 meters at the

IAAF World Indoor Championships The World Athletics Indoor Championships are a biennial indoor track and field competition served as the global championship for that version of the sport. Organised by the World Athletics, the competition was inaugurated as the ''World Indoor G ...

, defending his world title, and came second at the

European Athletics Championships The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletics Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for men ...

. At the

2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 17th IAAF World Indoor Championships was held from 1 to 4 March 2018 in Birmingham, United Kingdom. This was the city's second hosting of the event as it previously did so in 2003. Bidding process Birmingham bid for the 2016 IAAF World Ind ...

he successfully defended his 400-meter title a second time with a time of 45.47 seconds.

Personal bests

; Outdoor * 100 m 10.30 (9 June 2017, Třinec, Czech Republic) * 200 m 20.46 NR (9 June 2017, Třinec, Czech Republic) * 400 m 44.79 NR (11 May 2014, Doha, Qatar) * 500 m 1:00:35 (03 Aug 2013, Cheb, Czech Republic) ; Indoor * 60 m 6.65 (15 Feb 2014, Praha (Stromovka), Czech Republic * 200 m 20.52 (15 February 2014, Praha (Stromovka), Czech Republic) * 400 m 45.24 NR (8 March 2014, Sopot, Poland)Pavel Maslák a
IAAF.org
/ref> * 500m 1:00.36 (25 Feb 2014, Praha (O2 Arena), Czech Republic

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maslak, Pavel 1991 births Living people Czech male sprinters Olympic athletes of the Czech Republic Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics European Athletics Championships medalists People from Havířov World Athletics Championships athletes for the Czech Republic European Athletics Rising Star of the Year winners World Athletics Indoor Championships winners Czech Athletics Championships winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from the Moravian-Silesian Region