| From childhood, Slovaks are encouraged to participate
in sports. At school, physical education is an important subject. Most
Slovaks have an active lifestyle. Ice hockey and soccer are the most popular
team sports.
Slovakia has an ice hockey league made up
of eight teams that compete with each other during the hockey season. The
most well-known team is Slovan Harvard Bratislava. The country also has
a national team that competes in the Olympics and World Hockey Championships.
Many Slovaks have played in the National Hockey League in North America,
including Zigmund Palffy, Peter Bondra and the brothers Peter, Anton and
Marian Štasný. |
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| Slovaks enjoy skiing, snowboarding and ice skating
in winter. The Poprad-Tatry region has been a venue for winter sports competitions
since 1909, when the European championships in speed skating were held
at Štrbské Pleso. The area is sometimes covered in snow for more
than six months of the year. |
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Did
you know? |
| Slovakia
manufactures more ice hockey pucks than any other country in the world. |
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| In warmer weather, Slovaks turn their attention
to soccer (known as football). The Slovak soccer team has competed in European
Cup and World Cup competitions. Within Slovakia, the First Football League
has 16 teams that compete every year for the Slovak cup. Recent winners
include the teams of Slovan Bratislava, Spartak Trnava, and Chemlon Humenné.
Water sports are popular summer activities.
Slovaks enjoy swimming, water-skiing, sailing, canoeing, windsurfing, rafting
and fishing in rivers and lakes in the Tatras and also along the Danube
and its tributaries. National parks such as Slovenský Raj Park and
Tatranský Narodný Park are popular places to camp and hike. |
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Slovakia has basketball, volleyball and baseball
clubs. Tennis is popular and the country has produced several world-class
tennis players, such as Dominik Hrbatý and Karin Habsudová.
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Did
you know? |
| Michal
Martikan of Slovakia won the gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games for whitewater
slalom canoe at the age of 17, the youngest person ever to win gold at
this sport. It was also the first Olympic gold medal for Slovakia after
its separation from the Czech Republic. |
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