14 January 2026
Milano Cortina 2026: Team Czechia
As we quickly approach the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, we take a look at all of the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) who will be competing for their spot on the podium. Next is Team Czechia.
Team Czechia will be represented by two teams at the Games: Team Klima (men’s) and Team Chabicovsky/Zelingrova (mixed doubles).
Team Klima: Making Czech curling history
After matching their best-ever world championship result, Lukas Klima and his rink make history as the first Czech men’s team to qualify for the Olympic Winter Games — something he hopes will aid the sport’s rising momentum back home.
Finishing seventh is not usually a reason to celebrate, but for Czechia, it was historic.
Lukas Klima and his teammates left Moose Jaw, Canada, with mixed emotions after narrowly missing the play-offs at the 2025 BKT World Men’s Curling Championship. They had matched their country’s best-ever finish at the tournament — set back in 2014 — but more importantly, they became the first Czech men’s team to qualify for the Olympic Winter Games.
Consistency paid off. After placing ninth the previous year in Schaffhausen, they claimed the last direct spot for Milano Cortina 2026.
“It’s been my long dream to qualify for the Olympics and we were a few times very, very close,” said Klima, donning a smile.
From law office to curling sheets
An attorney by day, the 34-year-old has put in the hard hours in his two careers to reach this point. In his early twenties, Klima was part of Jiri Snitil’s rink — the other standout men’s skip from Czechia.
“When I entered the team, I was surprised that they are just humans because they were always on a pedestal for me,” he said.
“I think I’ve learned a lot of patience from them. I used to be very impatient as a young player, and they were very calm, very experienced.
“They really trusted their abilities to turn the game around and win it in the end, no matter how bad it went during the game. That was probably the biggest thing which resonated with me: just believing in yourself and being patient throughout the game.”
Building a new era
Since Snitil’s retirement, Klima has become the new leader in men’s curling. He has been supported well by the energetic intensity of Marek Cernovsky, the versatile Martin Jurik, the towering Lukas Klipa and the spirited veteran, Radek Bohac.
Klima admits his standards remain high heading into Italy.
“It was okay,” said Klima when reviewing his season so far, “It wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t bad. We slightly changed our approach — we played more events in the fall and now in January, we really want to focus on some good practices.
“We had decent results on tour. We made a lot of quarter-finals, we did not make too many semi-finals.
“So this is why it’s not perfect, but still overall, we played pretty well and the last couple of months, I think we are going in the right direction.”
That progress included a sixth-place finish at the 2025 Le Gruyère AOP European Curling Championships where they missed two victories by a single-point margin, including against Yannick Schwaller’s Switzerland. Trusting in the process and trusting each other has been key to their success.
Meet the teams
Team Klima
Lukas Klima (SKIP)
Age: 34
Olympic Appearances: Debut
Fun fact: Has a Dalmatian called Alex, nicknamed “Alejandro”, who is the hiking partner of him and his wife.
Marek Cernovsky (THIRD)
Age: 31
Olympic Appearances: Debut
Fun fact: His father will be coaching the mixed doubles team at the Olympics.
Martin Jurik (SECOND)
Age: 34
Olympic Appearances: Debut
Fun fact: He splits himself in three between his two jobs in IT sales and landscaping, curling and spending time with his daughter.
Lukas Klipa (LEAD)
Age: 28
Olympic Appearances: Debut
Fun fact: He always buys merchandise at events, but his wife always steals it.
Radek Bohac (ALTERNATE)
Age: 48
Olympic Appearances: Debut
Fun fact: If you hear someone in the Olympic Village speaking loud on the phone every morning, it’s Radek talking to his children.
QUALIFICATION
Team Klima qualified for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games through their points earned from the 2024 and 2025 editions of the World Men’s Curling Championship.
They placed eighth in the rankings with a total of 12 points, securing the last direct qualification spot.
TEAM STATS
Seventh at 2025 World Men’s Curling Championship, their joint-best result as a country.
Team CHABICOVSKY/ZELINGROVA
Vit Chabicovsky
Age: 21
Olympic Appearances: Debut
Fun fact: Vit is a Youth Winter Olympics bronze medallist – winning a medal in the mixed doubles with Pei Junhang, who comes from China.
Julie Zelingrova
Age: 19
Olympic Appearances: Debut
Fun fact: Julie will become the youngest mixed doubles player in the history of the Olympic Games, with the Czech team being the youngest team in history too with a combined age of 40.
QUALIFICATION
The Czechia mixed doubles team qualified for Milano Cortina 2026 at the Olympic Qualification Event 2025.
They were first to secure their spot after winning Qualification Game One 6-5 against Australia.
TEAM STATS
Best result of 13th at the 2022 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship.
Realising a lifelong dream
It helps that the team are fans of the same football club: Sparta Praha, which always makes friendships easier. Even the PlayStation makes it into the suitcase on tour so they can play FIFA, where Lukas Klipa shines above the rest.
Now, as Milano Cortina 2026 approaches, these friends will get to realise a lifelong dream.
“That’s going to be a pretty amazing experience at the Olympics because my personal goal is to enjoy the experience. It is the first time for me and I feel happy to be there with these guys and to enjoy the experience with them,” said Klima.
“Once you step on the ice, no matter Worlds, Olympics, Europeans or tour event, it’s still curling.
“We know what we need to do on the ice, so I think the most important part is just focus on ourselves and play our own game.”
“We know what we need to do on the ice, so I think the most important part is just focus on ourselves and play our own game.”
Lukas Klima, Team Czechia
Looking beyond the Games
Klima looks forward to the support of the Czech fans, noting that Cortina is only an eight-hour drive away. He is also excited about watching his compatriots compete across all sports, including the great Ester Ledecka, who is the only person to win Olympic gold medals in both skiing and snowboarding.
However, Klima is equally as interested in the aftermath of these Games, having seen the rise of curling in his country. At one stage, there was just one club in Czechia — in Prague. Now the capital city has two, while the cities of Brno and Ostrava founded their own too.
“Honestly, I hope it will do a lot,” he said.
“We need to try to help it and support it, but curling is always popular around the Olympics because of the TV.
“During the Olympics, everybody’s watching everything, including curling. It’s an opportunity to present our sport to fans, to the kids and try to get new people to try curling.
“What I would love to see and what I wish for is the base of Czech players just growing and getting more people into curling.”
“I hope that we will speak to people and some of them will try it and some of them will fall in love with it.”
TEAM CZECHIA STATS
Team Czechia made their Olympic debut in mixed doubles curling at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.
Best Result
Sixth (Mixed Doubles: 2022)
Olympic Moment
Czechia became the only country previously under the Iron Curtain — besides Russia — to qualify for the Olympics when their mixed doubles team competed at Beijing 2022.
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