The weather played tricks on the runners of the T-Mobile Olympic Run. Just a few dozen minutes before the start of the 37th edition, after sweltering heat, the sky clouded over and torrents of water poured from above, with wind breaking tree branches in many places. In Brno, a storm even damaged the timing equipment. But neither in Brno nor in the other 89 locations across the Czech Republic did the runners give up — they lined up at the start to celebrate Olympic Day through movement. Over 72,000 runners thus fulfilled the Olympic ideas and values more than ever before.
The main races over 5,000 and 10,000 metres were started over the airwaves of Radiožurnál by Zuzana Hejnová, two-time world champion and Olympic silver medallist in the 400 metres hurdles. She then also set off herself on the five-kilometre course in Prague’s Hvězda game reserve. “It was a great honour and joy for me to start this race. I really enjoyed it and at the same time I ran it myself afterwards,” she said at the finish line. “The course was very nice, even though it was quite waterlogged after the heavy rain. But I believe everyone delivered the performances they had hoped for and, most importantly, enjoyed it.”