Jiří Raška

In 1968, Jiří Raška became Czechoslovakia’s first champion at the Winter Olympics. Coached by Zdeněk Remsa, he was a substitute at the 1964 Olympics, before breaking into the international top. At the 1966 World Championships, Raška placed fourth in both normal and large hill events, and in 1968 he placed second in the Four Hills Tournament, having won the Bischofshofen event. One of the medal favourites for the normal hill, he won the first jump and held on to first place despite an 8th place in the second attempt.

A week later, Raška added a second Olympic medal by placing second in the large hill event. In the following years, Raška won the Four Hills Tournament (1971, without winning a single competition), a silver medal at the World Championships in the Czech Tatra mountains and a bronze medal at the inaugural Ski Flying World Championships in 1972. Retiring in 1974, he later coached, tending to the Czech national outfit briefly in the 1990s. Two of his grandsons, Jiří and Jan Mazoch later also became ski jumpers.