29th May 2013 08:38
The Czech team will be among the favourites for an immediate return when they compete in the first league in Dublin because of the form their athletes are showing.
Turnov was the venue on Monday for the 14th Ludvik Danek Memorial in the Czech Republic, and while the weather might have been gloomy, the performances were anything but.
Two years ago in Stockholm, the Czech Republic finished 10th with 219 points as Russia won with 374 the European Athletics Team Championships and they dropped down to the first league along with Portugal and Sweden.
But in Ireland, when individual displays all combine as one as points are all that matter, if they need a trail blazer for inspiration, it will arrive with their brilliant 400m runner Pavel Maslak.
Times were never going to be great in Turnov but that did not stop Maslak soaring to a world leading mark in the 300m.
Maslak is very much one of the great European athletes of the past 12 months, winning gold in the 400m both at the European Athletics Championships in Helsinki 11 months ago and at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Göteborg.
Over 300m, a distance not run too often, he flew round in 32.34, a personal best and a time that equals the best in the world this year by American Greg Nixon.
As Maslak said: 'For such weather, I am satisfied. I know that in better conditions I would be able to improve the national record of 32.31.'
Next stop for him is the Diamond League in Eugene on Saturday and the 400m where he will aim to send out another message of how well is running so close to Dublin.
He will be joined in the USA by another of his outstanding teammates, Zuzana Hejnova, who also triumphed in Turnov.
At last summer's Olympic Games in London, Hejnova produced the performance of her life to win bronze in the 400m hurdles.
The medals did not stop there because she was then part of the Czech team which finished third in the 4 x 400m relay in Göteborg.
She has already started the outdoor season in flying form, moving to the top of the European Athletics rankings with her 53.79 at the Diamond League in Shanghai 11 days ago and she delivered another fine run to win the flat 400m on Monday in 52.18.
Jan Kudlicka, who was eighth in London and fifth in Göteborg, won the pole vault with 5.61m and fellow Czech Jan Kubista took the 800m in 1:47.94 to move into the European Athletics' top 10 for 2013.
It is rankings list which makes good reading for the country because Ladislav Prasil is top of the shot put with 21.47m, Lukas Melich leads the hammer with 79.19m and Vitezslav Vesely is second in the javelin with 86.67m.
From a team standpoint, the Czech Republic should be a strong force as they also face opposition from Romania, Netherlands, Hungary, Switzerland, Finland, Belgium, Ireland, Estonia, Portugal, Sweden and Bulgaria on June 22-23.