V Zimním poháru Libereckého kraje se potkaly týmy FK Jablonec U18 a Mšeno A. Na hřišti v Mozartovce se lépe dařilo hráčům Mšena. Starší a zkušenější předvedli svoje schopnosti a mladíky z FK podarovali třemi góly. (0:3)

Jako mlíko! I to bylo slabé přirovnání několik minut před začátkem čtvrtfinále domácího poháru MOL Cup mezi fotbalisty Jablonce a Plzně. Hřiště zahalila hustá mlha.

Tým Jilemnice, který hraje I. B třídu východ, má zatím v přípravném období za sebou i tři pohárová utkání. A všechna zvládli Jilemničtí za plný počet bodů. Porazili Košťálov 2:1, Bělou 2:1 a Studenec 2:0. Poslední kolo hrají v Železném Brodě proti domácím. 

Po desetiletí bojovali bok po boku v jednou dresu, ale pak se z nich stali rivalové. Už třicet let trvá hokejová nevraživost mezi Českem a Slovenskem. Ověřte si v našem kvízu, jak dobře si pamatujete vzájemné bitvy.

Kudy chodí, tudy běží, říkají o něm kamarádi a známí. Osobnost jablonecké atletiky Vítězslav Jantsch oslaví v příštím roce devadesáté narozeniny. Jednoho dne dal na rady lékařů. A udělal dobře. Možná, že i díky nim ho čekají krásné kulatiny.

Maloskalský volejbal má před s sebou slibnou budoucnost. K jistotě udržení si prvního místa ve druhé národní lize mužů chybí týmu už jen čtyři body. Z Chocně si hráči přivezli dalších pět bodů po výhrách 3:2 a 3:1. Postoupí o soutěž výš?

In a blockbuster start to the season, Callum McClusky and Sophie Linn powered to the gold medals at the Napier World Cup. The next day, the Australian team stormed to another win as they crossed the line first in the Mixed Team Relay.

Beyond the successes themselves, the racing in Napier held wider ramifications. As a World Cup and World Triathlon Mixed Relay Series stop, respectively, the events counted towards Olympic qualification. Significantly, a few athletes and teams have made major strides forward with their Napier results.

The Men’s Olympic Rankings

One of the most pertinent moves in the Olympic rankings came from Alberto Gonzalez Garcia (ESP), the bronze medallist in Napier. His 3rd place finish helped him to a four-place gain in the rankings, putting him in 36th overall. This is particularly relevant as Spain currently has two men inside the top-30. They will need a third man to join the top-30 if they are to send three male triathletes to Paris.

With Sergio Baxter Cabrera (ESP, 32nd), David Castro Fajardo (ESP, 35th) and Gonzalez all in the top-40, one of the athletes could breach the top-30. Time, though, is certainly getting tight.

One of the reasons for Baxter falling to 32nd was Dylan McCullough (NZL) rising five places to 27th after finishing 5th in Napier. McCullough therefore becomes the second New Zealand man inside the top-30 as things stand.

Moreover, Alessio Crociani (ITA) finished 6th and Samuel Dickinson (GBR) placed 7th, results that helped both athletes rise in the rankings. Crociani is up to 87th in the rankings, having shot up by eleven places, Dickinson gained eight places and is now 63rd. Neither have a full quota of scores and so could rise further. Their countries will need them to make it all the way into the top-30, though, if they are to have any effect on qualifying a possible third man to Paris.

The Women’s Olympic Rankings

One of the big winners in the women’s rankings was the gold medallist in Napier, Sophie Linn (AUS). While her teammate Callum McClusky (AUS) moved up fifteen places to 81st, Linn rose ten places into 62nd. Crucially, she is now only seven places away from being the second highest-ranked Australian woman.

Another woman making major moves was Melanie Santos (POR). The Portuguese athlete finished 4th and jumped nine places to 61st. As a result, she has entered the forecasted list of individual qualifiers for the Olympic Games.

The 6th place finish of Ilaria Zane (ITA) could also be an important stepping stone. Zane has moved up five places to 34th in the rankings. She is therefore close to being the third Italian woman in the top-30 in the rankings. Should she gain a few more places, Italy could send three women to Paris, but Seregni, Betto, Steinhauser and Zane can all stake a claim on one.

On the flip side, due to the depth of the British team, the medals of Sophie Alden (GBR) and Olivia Mathias (GBR) will have minimal effect on Olympic qualification, Britain is already a shoo-in to qualify three women to Paris. The presence of four British women already inside the top-15 of the rankings checks the top-30 requirement with plenty of room to spare. While Alden and Mathias both made major moves in the rankings, then, their changes won’t have broader implications for their country.

Mixed Relay Olympic Rankings

Finally, we come to the Mixed Team Relay. It is perhaps here that the most noteworthy shifts took place in the wake of Napier.

To start with, Australia leap-frogged America in the Olympic rankings, putting them 6th overall. The Australian team is now close to guaranteed to qualify 2 + 2 for the Paris Olympics.

As a reminder, the six best teams in the Olympic relay rankings, excluding those teams that have automatically qualified (France, Britain and Germany), will qualify. For those teams that do not secure a qualifying slot, attention will turn to the Olympic Mixed Team Relay Qualification Event in Huatulco.

With Britain (1st), Germany (2nd) and France (3rd) occupying the top-3 slots in the rankings, Australia’s elevation to 6th has all but confirmed their qualification.

Of even greater note were the gains made by the Italian and Portuguese teams after finishing 3rd and 2nd, respectively, in Napier. Italy climbed two places into 8th in the rankings while Portugal jumped three places into 9th. In doing so, the two teams have knocked Spain and Norway out of the forecasted relay qualifiers.

Spain may be able to overcome the loss of place as they should qualify two women and at least two men individually to the Games. As such, they will earn the right to start in the relay without actually qualifying one.

However, the Norwegian team does not have the same luxury. The swing in the Olympic rankings may therefore have a profound consequence for their relay hopes.

Napier was the penultimate World Mixed Relay Series stop of the Olympic qualification window. The last outing will be in Abu Dhabi in a fortnight. As such, there could yet be further shifts in the relay qualification outlook. 

Stay up to date with the upcoming action on TriathlonLive.tv and across World Triathlon social channels.

V dalším kole Zimního poháru Libereckého kraje se na turnovské umělce utkaly Sedmihorky se Sokolem Pěnčín. Zápas skončil remizou 1:1. Trenér Sedmihorek ale spokojený po závěrečném hvizdu ale nebyl.

Ve druhém čtvrtfinálovém utkání krajské hokejové ligy se utkali jablonečtí Gepardi s Českou Lípou. A diváci viděli nevídanou gólovou přestřelku, která znamenala konec sezony pro domácí celek. Po páteční prohře v České Lípě měli Gepardi jedinou šanci, jak si prodloužit sezónu, a to vyhrát. To se ale nepovedlo. Duel skončil těsným výsledkem 8:9.

Na špici nic nového. Fotbalisté Sparty zvítězili v utkání 22. kola FORTUNA:LIGY na Slovácku 3:1 a udrželi se na čele tabulky o čtyři body před Slavií. Sešívaní porazili doma Pardubice 3:0 díky hattricku Chytila v rozmezí osmi minut druhé půle. Teď přijde supertýden. Příští víkend se pražští rivalové střetnou v derby na Letné, ještě ve středu se utkají ve čtvrtfinále poháru. Plzeň porazila Zlín 3:0 a upevnila si třetí místo. 

Romania’s Robert Tamirjan, Austria’s Martin Falch, Isak Brenden of Norway and French Para triathlon legend Yannick Borseaux were the four athletes to tackle the 2024 edition of the World Triathlon Winter Championships in Pragelato, Italy.

Saturday’s duathlon course consisted of a three-lap, 2km run course and three-lap, 3km ski, with the triathlon course one 2.5km run lap, two 3.2km loops on the mountain bikes and a three-lap 7.5km ski to the finish in the beautiful Pragelato Plan venue.

“I wanted to be here because this was where I had my very first Olympic experience in 2006 with the Nordic and cross-country skiing and biathlon,” said four-time Para Triathlon World Champion Borseaux after taking the tape in the men’s PTS5. “I have very special memories from here and of these tracks where I made my debut just 18 months after my bike crash. This was where I started my Paralympic career and this was my first ever Winter triathlon - I think I’ll be back!”

Robert Tamirjan added to his impressive collection of Winter and Summer multisport medals, likewise Martin Falch, who first competed at the Lausanne Para Championships in 2006 where he won gold. The impressive young Norwegian Isak Brenden finished with the silver medal at the end of another beautiful day for the sport in the Italian Alps.

“I did my first Winter Worlds in 2016 and I love it,” said 26-year-old Tamirjan, who finshed second at the Para Cup Alanya in 2021 and took part in the European Championships that year. “I love the combination of running, biking and cross country, it’s always a pleasure. I used to just do cycling, but I took up triathlon in 2015 so the swimming and running was all new. My first international summer Para Triathlon was in 2020 and i’m trying to improve. I was born with this spastic paresis on my right side which affects coordination and balance and a lot of things, but ive done sport all my life, ice hockey, cycling and now triathlon.”

“I came across triathlon when I heard about the Romanian national championships and I wanted to try it and see where I was with it, how i felt about it. I’d love to see more athletes here but it isn’t so well known at home, I just want others to know about this wonderful, challenging sport.”

Pragelato-Sestriere, home of the 2006 Olympic Nordic Skiing competition, hosted the Age Group Winter Triathlon and Duathlon World Championships from 23-25 February, with the world’s amateurs bringing their inimitable colour to the Pragelato party in the Italian alps.

In total, nineteen countries had athletes on the start lines over the weekend, Friday’s proceedings beginning with the traditional Parade of Nations on Friday afternoon. World Triathlon Secretary General Antonio F. Arimany and Italian National Federation President Riccardo Giubilei welcomed the athletes along with the Mayor of Pragelato, opening the 24th edition of the Winter World Championships that first took place back in 1997, just 600km away in Mals.

Saturday saw 60 men and 25 women tackle the 6km run/9km ski duathlon course while on Sunday the triathlon course was swarming with 96 men and 37 women scything through the 5km run, 10km mountin bike and 10km ski.

“That was really tough,” said the first Age Grouper across the line, the newly crowned 50-54 AG World Champion Rait Pallo from Estonia. “I was sure those guys were biking and running so fast I didn’t think I could catch them on the skis but I got a little closer with every lap and just knew I had to push as much as possible. This is my first time doing the winter triathlon. I normally do summer but I’m a bad swimmer and I love skiing. It has been a great experience – I’ll be back for sure! We have ten Estonians here and hopefully we’ll get some more medals out there.”

“That was a good race,” said Anais Tardieu of France, the first woman over the line to become the 35-39 AG Winter World Champion. “I was a bit tired from racing yesterday and it’s a tough course but I like that. Congratulations to the organisers for preparing this course, because it has improved so much the past two days. I like the mud and snow, lowering the tyre pressure and going for it. Last year was my first Winter World Championships in Andorra after trying all distances and the cross triathlon, but I wanted to come here with my husband and my coach and race again.”

For the full results, click here.

The final day of World Triathlon Winter Championships Pragelato-Sestriere action saw Team Italy smash the run-bike-ski super-sprint course in the western Alps to make it a clean sweep of the triathlon podiums over two days.

Just as they did in Skeikampen last year, individual title-winners Sandra Mairhofer and Franco Pesavento joined forces in what again proved to be a formidable duo. And just as they had 24 hours earlier, the pair conspired to sear clear of the rest of the women’s field to carve out a first-half lead they would never relinquish.

Behind them, the strong Czech duo of Aneta Grabmuller Soldati and Marek Rauchfuss were able to win the silver after pulling away from the Norwegians Hans Christian Tungesvik and Julie Meinicke in third.

“When Franco handed to me with a bit of a lead, I knew I just wanted to attack straight away and it turned out well,” said a smiling Mairhofer. “Yesterday was my first win in Italy and that meant a lot, so to win again today with Franco is very special.”

“I knew I had to hold off Rauchfuss on the bike out there, and I’m happy I was able to do that,” said Pesavento. “It has been a great event here, I want to thank everyone for the organisation.”

It was Team Italy II’s Alessandro Saravalle and Czech Republic’s Rauchfuss sticking with Pesavento over a breathless 3m12s opening 1km run lap. Sebastian Neef‘s transition struggles slowed Team Germany’s progress, and even as the Czech mountain bike star pushed hard along with Romania’s Viorel Palici, it was to be the two Italians steaming towards the first tag side-by-side on the skis.

Just behind, there was only 10 seconds separating third to sixth at this stage, but cue Sandra Mairhofer’s field-crushing run to suddenly open up a massive 28-second lead over Grabmuller, Meinicke now another 10 seconds back, Kristina Lapinova and Slovakia I suddenly 1m45 away from the leader with Stina Meinicke for company.

Mount line and equipment penalties for Italy II’s Bianca Morvillo effectively ended their challenge at the halfway mark, while up ahead Mairhofer handed her teammate a healthy 30-second lead over the Czechs, 70 seconds over the Norwegians.

Those gaps remained much the same on men’s second run, Pesavento maintained the advantage over Rauchfuss on the bike, Team Norway unable to prevent the gap to the leader going out to an unassailable 90 seconds.

All that was left for Mairhofer was to do what she does best; attack the run, hoover up the bike course and stay safe on the skis, sliding to the tape and into the arms of Pesavento some 50 seconds ahead of Grabmuller and Czech teammate Rauchfuss in second, Meinicke and Tungesvik with the bronze, Norway II edging fourth place from Team Slovakia I.

Full results available here.

K poslednímu utkání před startem ČFL se svěřenci trenéra Vomáčky vypravili na umělou trávu do Turnova. Utkali se s divizním domácím A týmem, který skončil podzim na čtvrtém místě tabulky. Jablonci v ČFL B patřila šestá příčka. „K vidění byl zápas dvou rozdílných poločasů", shodli se trenéři. V závěru Turnov hodně zabral a hosté odjeli s remízou 3:3.

Udrží Gepardi krok, dech a hlavně naději na další setrvání v play off? Výkon v prvním zápase s Českou Lípou tomu nenasvědčoval. Podle slov trenéra Davida Svobody někteří hráči nepochopili, že hrají další, těžší část krajské hokejové ligy. A proto odjeli z ledu soupeře s porážkou 7:5. Dnes mají jasný úkol, vyhrát!

Team Australia (Callum McClusky-Emma-Jeffcoat-Brandon Copeland-Sophie Linn) is back on the podium after securing gold in the 2024 World Triathlon Mixed Relay Series Napier. Portugal delivers a stunning team set-up (Ricardo Batista-Melanie Santos-Vasco Vilaca-Maria Tomé) to earn silver and valuable points for Paris 2024 and Team Italy (Nicola Azzano-Ilaria Zane-Alessio Crociani-Sharon Spimi ) claiming bronze with a thrilling show.

Eight teams lined up at the Auriri Beach, in Napier, to kick off the Mixed Relay season and it was the home crowds favourite, Dylan McCullough, who enjoyed the benefit of hitting the first transition on the lead, running out of the beach together with Samuel Dickinson (GBR) and Alberto Gonzalez Garcia (ESP). The trio managed to open a small break with the rest of the field, with Australia’s Collum McClusky had a challenging swim that saw him last out of the water and quite a lot of work to do to catch up. By the time the leaders finished the 5km bike course they had 33 seconds over the chase group, lead by Ricardo Batista (POR). And that was the order in which the second team members were tagged.

McCullough tagged Ainsley Thorpe in first place, with Olivia Mathias almost ten seconds behind. But the Brit had another magnificent swim to catch the Kiwi and decided that she was not going to leave it there. Mathias put her head down on the bike to open a breakaway that will give her a 26 seconds lead over Thorpe, while behind them Zsanett Kuttor-Bragmayer moved Team Hungary on the fight for the podium positions, with Spain, Australia and Italy close behind.

Mathias even increased her lead on the 1.7km run to tagg Hugo Milner on the lead, half a minute ahead of Bragmayer, Cecilia Santamaria (ESP) and Thorpe. Milner managed to keep the distance with the chasers after the swim, and headed the first transition with Mathias shouting to him “stay calm, push hard and don’t panic”, but the young Brit found it hard to manage a 5km solo bike ride. Even harder if behind you you have Vasco Vilaca (POR), with fresh legs as he did not compete on the World Cup yesterday.

Vilaca delivered a masterclass of bike-run efforts, and not only manage to catch the chase group but also lead them to regroup with Milner right before hitting the second transition. With their shoes on, Vilaca decided to go for it, on the chase of key Olympic ranking points to try to qualify Team Portugal for the Games, and delivered the fastest leg split of the day to tag Maria Tome (POR) in the first place. Rebeca Beti (ITA), Sophie Linn (AUS) and Brea Roderick (NZL) were right behind her on the swim, and almost together the four of them hit the first transition, with Sophie Alden (GBR) trying to catch up some time with them.

The leading four navigated the bike together, trying to save a bit of energy for the last run, and the second the four women hit the last transition, things moved pretty fast. Roderick had a smooth transition and left the blue carpet with a few seconds of advantage over the other three, but quickly Linn and Tome showed that they are amongst the fastest runners at the moment.

A last push in the final meters saw Linn heading the finish line by herself, ready to claim the second gold medal of the weekend. “These guys set it up for me, for the perfect day. The race blew apart, but they put it back and set it up for me to be in the perfect position. I couldn’t ask for more from my teammates, more from the crowds, they were all fantastic”, said Linn after crossing the finish line. “It’s been a dream weekend for team Australia. Sophie (Linn) and me taking gold yesterday and then with the team today. It couldn’t have gone any better. I was last out of the water but I had a good transition and I was about fifth onto the bike and missed that breakaway which was a bit disappointing but luckily the race came back together, thanks to the rest of the team and we were able to get the win”, recapped McClusky. Also delighted was Emma Jeffcoat, back on a podium after a rough couple of years with injuries. “That was terrific. It’s been a long time since I have been in a relay team so to stand alongside these three is an honour and to be back wearing the green and gold, I am stoked,” she said. Also delighted was Copeland: “That was unreal. Racing in New Zealand feels like home for us. These guys all did their job so well, I am so privileged to be part of team Australia. It’s been a rough couple of years but hopefully we’re starting 2024 with a bang.”

Portugal was absolutely delighted with the silver medal on the day, that puts the team on a great position on the hunt for Olympic Qualification Team rankings. “This was the main goal at the beginning of the season, to really try and get the team higher up on the ranking. We were fighting for a top five but in the end being able to fight for the podium with this team was amazing, I couldn’t be happier with the second place. I started the swim and kind of got dropped a little bit and I knew I had a few seconds to catch up to the front group on the bike. Then on the bike and just gave it all I had to try and catch up. Just by the end I caught up and when I got onto the run, it was time to sprint. I was happy to give it in first place to Maria (Tome), she finished it in an amazing way with the second place,” said Vilaca, who flew all the way to New Zealand just to help the team on the Relay.

Team Italy was also incredibly happy with their performance. Ilaria Zane said: “It was great because we showed that the team can do great and we had a super performance from Alessio today. He had the eye of the tiger today. He really believed in the medal and to deliver a great performance. I can say the same about the others from the gun to the very last moment of the race. Today I am really proud of the team. We were aiming to do the best of possible, of course getting a podium is great points in the bank.”

Brea Roderick crossed the finish line in fourth place, while Alden had Team GB rounding the top five.