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Petr Švehla

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Petr Švehla
Personal information
Full namePetr Švehla
Nationality Czech Republic
Born (1972-04-01) 1 April 1972 (age 52)
Hodonín, Czechoslovakia
Height1.67 m (5 ft 5+1⁄2 in)
Weight60 kg (132 lb)
Sport
SportWrestling
StyleGreco-Roman
ClubPSK Olymp Praha
CoachErvin Varga
Medal record
Men's Greco-Roman wrestling
Representing  Czech Republic
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2005 Budapest 60 kg
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2001 Istanbul 58 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Haparanda 55 kg

Petr Švehla (born April 1, 1972 in Hodonín) is a retired amateur Czech Greco-Roman wrestler, who competed in the men's featherweight category.[1] He picked up two career medals at the European Championships (2001 and 2004), scored a bronze in the 60-kg division at the 2005 World Wrestling Championships in Budapest, Hungary, and also represented as part of the Czech Republic team in two editions of the Olympic Games (2000 and 2004). Before his sporting career ended in 2009, Svehla trained as a member of the wrestling squad for PSK Olymp Praha in Prague, under his longtime coach Ervin Varga.[2][3]

Svehla made his official debut at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where he competed in the men's bantamweight division (54 kg). He lost two matches in the prelim pool each to China's Wang Hui (3–8) and Iran's Hassan Rangraz (2–8). Placing on the bottom of the pool and sixteenth overall, Svehla failed to advance to the quarterfinals.[4][5]

Shortly after the Games, Svehla came stronger from his Olympic setback with a marvelous victory and a gold medal effort over Georgia's Irakli Chochua in the 58-kg division at the 2001 European Championships in Istanbul, Turkey.[2] Although he missed his title defense in the same tournament twice, Svehla managed to halt his medal drought by picking up the bronze in Haparanda, Sweden three years later.[6]

Determined to return to the Olympic scene and medal, Svehla entered the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens on his second debut, as a 30-year-old veteran, in the men's 55 kg class. Earlier in the process, he placed fourth from the 2003 World Wrestling Championships in Créteil, France to guarantee his spot on the Czech wrestling team to the Games.[7][8] As a resemblance to his previous Olympics, Svehla delivered the same fate with a pair of unprecedented defeats from U.S. wrestler and 1996 Olympic silver medalist Dennis Hall (2–3) and Ukraine's Oleksiy Vakulenko (0–4), leaving him again on the bottom and placing nineteenth in the final standings.[9][10][11]

At the 2005 World Wrestling Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Svehla overcame from his another Olympic setback to capture the bronze medal over the host nation's Laszlo Kliment with a striking 2–1 effort in the 60-kg category.[12]

References

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  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Petr Švehla". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Zápasník Švehla přemohl svůj osud" [Wrestler Švehla overcame his fate] (in Czech). Mladá fronta DNES. 15 May 2001. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  3. ^ "Zápasník Sobecký jedenáctý na Grand Prix Německa" [Wrestler Sobecký finished eleventh at the German Grand Prix] (in Czech). Pražský deník. 7 January 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  4. ^ "Zápasníci Švehla i Švec jsou vyřazeni" [Wrestlers Švehla and Švec are eliminated] (in Czech). Mladá fronta DNES. 24 September 2000. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  5. ^ "Sydney 2000: Wrestling – Bantamweight Greco-Roman (54kg)" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. pp. 97–98. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 September 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  6. ^ "Zápasníci vybojovali bronz" [Wrestlers won the bronze] (in Czech). Hospodářské noviny. 13 April 2004. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  7. ^ Abbott, Gary (13 July 2004). "Olympic Games preview at 55 kg/121 lbs. in men's Greco-Roman". USA Wrestling. The Mat. Archived from the original on 7 June 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  8. ^ "Švehla nestačil na pozdějšího mistra světa" [Švehla was not enough to become the world champion] (in Czech). Sport.cz. 6 October 2003. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  9. ^ "Wrestling: Men's Greco-Roman 55kg". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 15 August 2004. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  10. ^ "Gardner, Hall only Americans left". ESPN. 24 August 2004. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  11. ^ Miller, Bryce (24 August 2004). "Split matches keep Hall from advancing". Gannett News Service. Jackson Sun. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  12. ^ "Zápasník Švehla vybojoval na mistrovství světa bronz" [Wrestler Švehla won the bronze at the World Champs] (in Czech). Sport.cz. 2 October 2005. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
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