Bohemia at the Olympics

Bohemia at the Olympics

The Kingdom of Bohemia, an autonomous part of Austria-Hungary until 1918, joined some of the first modern Olympic Games. The group that sent athletes, called the Bohemian Committee for the Olympic Games, began in 1899 and got approval from the International Olympic Committee. Bohemia first joined the games at the 1900 Summer Olympics.

After World War I, Bohemia joined with other lands to become Czechoslovakia. From then on, athletes from Bohemia competed as part of Czechoslovakia at the Olympics. Later, after the 1992 Summer Olympics and the split of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993, athletes from Bohemia competed for the Czech Republic at the Olympics.

If we count these later appearances, Bohemia only missed three Olympics. They could not join the very first games in 1896 Summer Olympics, they skipped the 1904 Summer Olympics, and as part of Czechoslovakia, they did not go to the 1984 Summer Olympics because many countries chose not to attend.

Timeline of participation

Olympic Years	Teams
1900–1912	Bohemia
1920–1992	Czechoslovakia
1994–present	Czech Republic	Slovakia

Medal tables

See also: All-time Olympic Games medal table

Medals by Summer Games

Medals by summer sport

Games	Athletes	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total	Rank
1900 Paris	7	0	1	1	2	19
1904 St. Louis	did not participate
1908 London	19	0	0	2	2	17
1912 Stockholm	43	0	0	0	0	–
Total		0	1	3	4	130

Sport	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Athletics	0	1	0	1
Fencing	0	0	2	2
Tennis	0	0	1	1
Totals (3 entries)	0	1	3	4

List of medalists

Hedwiga Rosenbaumová won a bronze medal with Archibald Warden from Great Britain (GBR) in a mixed doubles tennis event at the 1900 Summer Olympics. This medal is counted as part of a mixed team, not split between Bohemia and Great Britain.

Medal	Name	Games	Sport	Event
Silver	František Janda-Suk	1900 Paris	Athletics	Men's discus throw
Bronze	Hedwiga Rosenbaumová	1900 Paris	Tennis	Women's singles
Bronze	Vilém Goppold von Lobsdorf	1908 London	Fencing	Men's sabre
Bronze	Vlastimil Lada-Sázavský Vilém Goppold von Lobsdorf Bedřich Schejbal Jaroslav Šourek-Tuček	1908 London	Fencing	Men's team sabre

Summary by sport

Athletics

Bohemia joined the track and field events in 1900 when it first took part in the Olympics. Four athletes from Bohemia competed in five events. They won a silver medal, which was the best achievement for Bohemia in any Olympic event. Bohemia never won a gold medal and did not win any other silver medals.

Cycling

In 1900, Bohemia also sent one cyclist to the Olympics. However, Bohemia did not win any medals in cycling.

Gymnastics

Bohemia’s first Olympic appearance in 1900 included one gymnast, František Erben. He finished 32nd out of 135 participants in the men’s all-around competition.

Tennis

One tennis player from Bohemia, Hedwiga Rosenbaumová, joined the 1900 Olympics and won a bronze medal in the women’s singles event. This was the only tennis medal Bohemia earned, even though the country took part in tennis events each time it appeared in the Olympics.