Sportsperson of the Year (Czech: Sportovec roku, Slovak: Športovec roka) was a prize awarded annually to the best athletes of Czechoslovakia from 1959 to 1992 by the Club of Czechoslovak Sports Journalists. The first winner was white-water canoer Vladimír Jirásek. From 1961 the prize was also given to the best sports team; the first team recipient was the Czechoslovakia national ice hockey team. Since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993, the prize has continued in both successor countries as the Sportsperson of the Year of the Czech Republic and the Sportsperson of the Year of Slovakia.

The individual prize was usually awarded to a single sportsperson, but on two occasions, two people received it – Eva Romanová and Pavel Roman (ice dancers) in 1962, and the Pospíšil brothers (cycle-ball players) in 1979. The prize was given to 28 different athletes, 22 men and 6 women, in 23 sports disciplines. Gymnast Věra Čáslavská won the prize four times, the most of any sportsperson.She was also the sole recipient to have received it in three consecutive years (from 1966 to 1968). Six individuals were awarded the prize more than once.

The team prize was won by teams in 12 sport disciplines; all winners but one were national teams. The only time members of a sports club team were awarded the Sportsperson of the Year was the Dukla Prague handball team, in 1963. Ice hockey teams were given the award six times – most of all disciplines. Ice hockey goaltender Josef Mikoláš and cross-country skier Květa Jeriová were the only people who won both the individual and the team prize (Mikoláš as a member of the Czechoslovakia national ice hockey team at 1961 World Championships and Jeriová as a member of ski relay at the 1984 Winter Olympics). Men's teams received the prize 20 times, and women's teams won it 3 times. From 1970 to 1977, and in 1979, the team prize was not awarded. The team award was won back to back twice, by the men's national ice hockey team in 1968 and 1969, and by the men's national ski-relay team in 1988 and 1989.

Individual awards

Year	Name	Sport	Achievements in the given year
1959	Vladimír Jirásek	C1 whitewater slalom	World Championships in Geneva, Switzerland – 1st
1960	Eva Bosáková	Artistic gymnastics	Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, balance beam – 1st, team – 2nd
1961	Josef Mikoláš	Ice hockey (goaltender)	World Championships in Geneva, Switzerland, team – 2nd
1962	Eva Romanová Pavel Roman	Ice dancing	World Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia – 1st European Championships in Geneva, Switzerland – 3rd
1963	Václav Kozák	Rowing	European Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark, single scull – 1st
1964	Věra Čáslavská	Artistic gymnastics	Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, all-round – 1st, balance beam – 1st, vault – 1st, team – 2nd
1965	Ludvík Daněk	Discus throw	World record of 65.22 metres (214 ft) in Sokolov, Czechoslovakia
1966	Věra Čáslavská	Artistic gymnastics	World Championships in Dortmund, West Germany, team – 1st, all-round – 1st, vault – 1st, balance beam – 2nd, floor exercise – 2nd
1967	Věra Čáslavská	Artistic gymnastics	European Championships in Amsterdam, Netherlands, all-round – 1st, vault – 1st, uneven bars – 1st, balance beam – 1st, floor exercise – 1st
1968	Věra Čáslavská	Artistic gymnastics	Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico, all-round – 1st, vault – 1st, uneven bars – 1st, balance beam – 2nd, team – 2nd
1969	Miloslava Rezková	High jump	European Championships in Athens, Greece – 1st
1970	Ladislav Rygl	Nordic combined	World Championships in Vysoké Tatry, Czechoslovakia – 1st
1971	Ondrej Nepela	Figure skating	World Championships in Lyon, France – 1st European Championships in Zürich – 1st
1972	Ludvík Daněk	Discus throw	Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany – 1st
1973	Jan Kodeš	Tennis	Wimbledon Championships – 1st US Open – 2nd
1974	Vítězslav Mácha	Greco-Roman wrestling	World Championships in Katowice, Poland, 74 kg weight class – 1st European Championships in Madrid, Spain, 74 kg weight class – 2nd
1975	Karel Kodejška	Ski jumping	Ski flying World Championships in Bad Mitterndorf, Austria – 1st
1976	Anton Tkáč	Track cycling	Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada, sprint – 1st
1977	Vítězslav Mácha	Greco-Roman wrestling	World Championships in Göteborg, Sweden, 74 kg weight class – 1st
1978	Anton Tkáč	Track cycling	World Championships in Munich, West Germany, sprint for amateurs – 1st
1979	Pospíšil brothers	Cycle ball	World Indoor Cycling Championships in Schiltigheim, France – 1st
1980	Ota Zaremba	Weightlifting	1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Soviet Union, 100 kg weight class – 1st
1981	Jarmila Kratochvílová	Athletics – track disciplines	European Indoor Championships in Grenoble, France, 400 m – 1st
1982	Imrich Bugár	Discus throw	European Athletics Championships in Athens, Greece – 1st
1983	Jarmila Kratochvílová	Athletics – track disciplines	World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, 400 m – 1st (world record of 47.99), 800 m – 1st, 4 × 400 m relay – 2nd European Indoor Championships in Budapest, Hungary, 400 m – 1st 800m world record of 1:53.28 in Munich, West Germany
1984	Květa Jeriová	Cross-country skiing	Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, 5 km – 3rd, 4 x 5 km relay – 2nd
1985	Petr Jirmus	Aerobatics	European Championships – 1st
1986	Jozef Pribilinec	Racewalking	European Championships in Stuttgart, West Germany – 1st
1987	Jiří Parma	Ski jumping	World Championships in Oberstdorf, West Germany – 1st
1988	Jozef Pribilinec	Racewalking	Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea – 1st
1989	Attila Szabó	K-1 canoe sprint	World Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, K-1 10000 m – 1st
1990	Jozef Lohyňa	Freestyle wrestling	World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, 82 kg weight class – 1st
1991	Radomír Šimůnek	Cyclo-cross	World Championships in Gieten, Netherlands – 1st
1992	Robert Změlík	Decathlon	Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain – 1st

Team awards

Year	Team	Achievements in the given year
1961	Men's national ice hockey team	World Championships in Geneva and Lausanne, Switzerland – 2nd
1962	Men's national football team	World Cup in Chile – 2nd
1963	Dukla Prague men's handball team	European Champions Cup – 1st
1964	Men's national volleyball team	Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan – 3rd
1965	Men's national ice hockey team	World Championships in Tampere, Finland – 2nd
1966	Men's national volleyball team	World Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia – 1st
1967	Men's national handball team	World Championships in Sweden – 1st
1968	Men's national ice hockey team	Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France – 2nd
1969	Men's national ice hockey team	World Championships in Stockholm, Sweden – 3rd
1970	not awarded
1971	not awarded
1972	not awarded
1973	not awarded
1974	not awarded
1975	not awarded
1976	not awarded
1977	not awarded
1978	National motorcycle team	International Six Days Enduro in Värnamo, Sweden – 1st
1979	not awarded
1980	Men's national football team	Summer Olympics in Moscow, Soviet Union – 1st
1981	Men's national road cycling team	World Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia, team time trial – 3rd
1982	National motorcycle team	International Six Days Enduro in Považská Bystrica, Czechoslovakia – 1st
1983	Women's national tennis team	Fed Cup – 1st
1984	Women's national ski-relay team	Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia – 2nd
1985	Men's national ice hockey team	1985 World Ice Hockey Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia – 1st
1986	Men's national track cycling team	World Championships in Colorado Springs, United States, 4000 m team pursuit – 1st
1987	Women's national volleyball team	European Championships in Belgium – 3rd
1988	Men's national ski-relay team	Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada – 3rd
1989	Men's national ski-relay team	World Championships in Lahti, Finland – 3rd
1990	Men's national football team	World Cup in Italy – quarterfinals
1991	Men's national table-tennis team	World Championships in Chiba, Japan – 3rd
1992	Men's national ice hockey team	Winter Olympics in Albertville, France – 3rd World Championships in Czechoslovakia – 3rd

See also

• Sportsperson of the Year (Czech Republic)
• Sportsperson of the Year (Slovakia)