Zuzana Hejnova after winning the 2013 Czech Athlete of The Year (© Aleš Gräf)
Zuzana Hejnova filled the throne vacated by Barbora Spotakova and became the Czech Athlete of the Year 2013 after, as expected, it was announced that she had won the annual poll by the Czech Athletics Federation for the first time on Saturday (9).
She is also a finalist for the 2013 World Athlete of the Year, along with New Zealand’s Valerie Adams and Jamaica‘s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. The winner of the global honour will be announced live on stage during the 2013 World Athletics Gala in Monaco on Saturday 16 November.
Hejnova won the 2013 IAAF World Championships 400m Hurdles gold medal and went undefeated through the season, also winning the Diamond Race in her event.
She got 1559 points to top the poll which had been won by Spotakova for the last six years.
The 2013 World champion in the Javelin, Vitezslav Vesely, finished second with 1401 points, with hammer thrower Lukas Melich, the bronze medalist from the World Championships in Moscow, third with 1164 points.
Hejnova's coach Dalibor Kupka won the Coach of the Year title, his fourth award after successes in 2002, 2003 and 2005 while coaching Decathlon star Roman Sebrle.
The 2013 best junior and biggest breakthrough awards went to walker Anezka Drahotova, the 2013 European junior 10,000m Race walk winner.
Michal Prochazka (Czech Athletics Federation) for the IAAF
