Jan Bártů (born 16 January 1955) 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 ...

former

modern pentathlete The modern pentathlon is an Olympic multisport that consists of five events: fencing (one-touch épée followed by direct elimination), freestyle swimming, obstacle course racing, laser pistol shooting, and cross country running. The sport wa ...

and coach who competed in the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

and in the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

. He won an individual bronze and a team silver at the 1976 Summer Games. He was coached by his father Karel Bártů, who competed for

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

modern pentathlon at the 1948 Summer Olympics At the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, a single modern pentathlon event was contested. The event was held at the Aldershot Lido outdoor pool in Hampshire. Competition format The modern pentathlon consisted of five events. The competition used a ...

. Jan secured his place at the 1976 Olympic Games at the age of 21 by finishing fourth in the 1976 Hungarian World Cup. He also finished second in the 1976 World Junior Championships, a few weeks after the Olympics. The success of Bártů and his team-mates at the Games represented the first major success in Modern Pentathlon for Czechoslovakia. After retiring from competition, Jan Bártů went into coaching, serving as a coach at the High Performance Sport Centre Sparta Prague and later as the Technical Director of Czechoslovakian Pentathlon from 1986 to 1990, before becoming head coach for the Mexican National Modern Pentathlon team between 1990 and 1994. He took over the Head Coach position of the United States Pentathlon Association from 1995 to 1998. In April 1998 he joined Pentathlon GB as Performance Director: as of 2017 he led the British Team to winning five Olympic medals, including a gold for

Steph Cook Stephanie Jayne Cook, MBE (born 7 February 1972) is a British retired modern pentathlete. She was the Olympic champion at this event in 2000. Cook was born in Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland. She was educated at Bedford High School; The ...

at the

2000 Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. Bártů was awarded an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

by the

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

in March 2017.

References

1955 births Living people Czech male modern pentathletes Olympic modern pentathletes for Czechoslovakia Czechoslovak male modern pentathletes Modern pentathletes at the 1976 Summer Olympics Modern pentathletes at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Czechoslovakia Olympic bronze medalists for Czechoslovakia Olympic medalists in modern pentathlon Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Czech sports coaches TeamBath coaches Modern pentathletes from Prague Friendship Games medalists Czech expatriate sportspeople in the United States Czech expatriate sportspeople in the United Kingdom Coaches at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic coaches for Great Britain {{CzechRepublic-modern-pentathlon-bio-stub