Czechoslovakia (TCH)

Athletes from what later became part of Czechoslovakia first competed at the 1900 Olympics, representing Bohemia. After World War I the Czechoslovak Republic (ČSR) was proclaimed in 1918 and Jiří Guth-Jarkovský acted quickly and formed the National Olympic Committee on 13 June 1919. In 1920, Czechoslovakia sent its first true Olympic team to Antwerp. From 1920-1992 the only Olympic Games not attended by Czechoslovakia, including the Olympic Winter Games, was the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Czechoslovakia excelled in many different sports at the Olympics. The country’s most noteworthy athletes were female gymnast Věra Čáslavská, with 11 medals and seven golds, and distance runner Emil Zátopek, with five medals and four golds.

Ice hockey player Jiří Holík has the most medals at the Winter Olympics by a Czechoslovakian athlete, winning four from 1964-1976, but with no gold medals. Ski jumper Jiří Raška and figure skater Ondrej Nepela were the ony Czechoslovakian athletes to win gold at the Winter Olympics.

Czechoslovakia, also known as Czechoslovak Republic (ČSR) between 1918-1938 and 1945-1960, and as Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (ČSSR) from 1960 to 1990, competed as Czech and Slovak Federative Republic (ČSFR) at the 1992 Games, and split peacefully into the Czech Republic and Slovakia on 1 January 1993. The Czechoslovak Olympic Committee officially finished its activities on 27 March 1993.