Jan Bártů (born 16 January 1955) is a Czech former modern pentathlete and coach who competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics and in the 1980 Summer Olympics.[1] He won an individual bronze and a team silver at the 1976 Summer Games. He was coached by his father Karel Bártů, who competed for Czechoslovakia in modern pentathlon at the 1948 Summer Olympics.[2][3] Jan secured his place at the 1976 Olympic Games at the age of 21 by finishing fourth in the 1976 Hungarian World Cup. He also finished second in the 1976 World Junior Championships, a few weeks after the Olympics. The success of Bártů and his team-mates at the Games represented the first major success in Modern Pentathlon for Czechoslovakia.[4]

Jan Bártů
Personal information
Born (1955-01-16) 16 January 1955 (age 69)
Prague, Czechoslovakia
Sport
SportModern pentathlon
Coached byKarel Bártů
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals2 (1976, 1980)
Medal record
Men's modern pentathlon
Representing  Czechoslovakia
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1976 Montreal Team
Bronze medal – third place 1976 Montreal Individual

After retiring from competition, Jan Bártů went into coaching, serving as a coach at the High Performance Sport Centre Sparta Prague and later as the Technical Director of Czechoslovakian Pentathlon from 1986 to 1990, before becoming head coach for the Mexican National Modern Pentathlon team between 1990 and 1994. He took over the Head Coach position of the United States Pentathlon Association from 1995 to 1998. In April 1998 he joined Pentathlon GB as Performance Director: as of 2017 he led the British Team to winning five Olympic medals, including a gold for Steph Cook at the 2000 Olympics.[5][6]

Bártů was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Bath in March 2017.[5]

References edit

  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Jan Bártů". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  2. ^ Morsch, Dale (20 July 1976). "Russia's Onischenko is caught cheating, Czechs, U.S. lead in modern pentathlon". The Berkshire Eagle. p. 8. Retrieved 10 February 2019 – via NewspaperARCHIVE.
  3. ^ "Karel Bártů". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  4. ^ "Jan Bártů". Czech Olympic Committee (in Czech). Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Pentathlon GB performance director Jan Bartu awarded Honorary Doctorate by University of Bath". TeamBath. 22 March 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  6. ^ "Jan Bartu". Modern Pentathlon Association Great Britain. Retrieved 9 February 2019.