Katerina Novotná

Memorable sporting achievement

Winning gold in the overall competition at the 2010 European Championships in Dresden, Germany. (Athlete, 12 Jan 2017)

When and where did you begin this sport?

She took up the sport seriously at age 11 in 1995 in Benatky nad Jizerou, Czech Republic.

Other sports	She has competed in inline skating at the 2008 European Championships in Gera, Germany. She also represented the Czech Republic in speed skating at the 2011 European Allround Championships in Collalbo, Italy. (SportsDeskOnline, 13 Jan 2017; world-inline-cup.com, 18 Jun 2011)
Most influential person in career	Coach Jindrich Parik. (Athlete, 12 Jan 2017)
Hero / Idol	Bulgarian short track skater Evgenia Radanova, US speed skater Shani Davis, Czech ice hockey player Jaromir Jagr. (Athlete, 19 Nov 2013)
Sporting philosophy / motto	"Enjoy every moment and never give up your dreams." (Athlete, 12 Jan 2017)

www.facebook.com/katerina.novotna.731

Nicknames

Kacka (Facebook profile, 08 Sep 2014)

Reason for choosing this sport

"I loved skating from my first steps on the ice at age four."

Other information

RETIREMENT She retired from competitive short track in January 2018 after failing to qualify for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. She planned to move on to a coaching role with the Slovakian national short track team. "I no longer found the inspiration and motivation to properly prepare for the next races. The more I trained the more ideas I got about coaching." (sport.cz, 13 Jan 2018)