Eva Samkova Wiki: 5 Facts To Know About 2018 Olympics Bronze Medalist Snowboarder

Czech athlete Eva Samková was born in 1993 and she's a snowboarder who is the 2014 Olympic champion in snowboard cross. Eva Samkova loves both longboarding and snowboarding. When she's not riding a snowboard, Samkova rides horses. She also plays the saxaphone. She is also a student and is currently studying Physical Education and Sport Psychology from Charles University, Prague, CZE. She can speak Czech and English languages fluently. She trained in the club Dukla Liberec under Coac Marek Jelinek who is a national level coach and coach Jakub Flejsar who is also on the national level. Samkova made her World Cup Debut - 2010 in Italy. A shoulder injury caused her to be unable to compete at the 2017 World Cup event in Val Thorens, France. She required surgery on her left arm following the 2015/16 season. She had a serious knee injury during the 2011/12 season. She first tried snowboard at age six and she joined a snowboard club in Vrchlabi, Czech Republic, when she was in the fifth grade at school. At one point she enjoyed skiing but did not enjoy the early training sessions, so she switched to snowboard. "With skiing I had to be on the slope early in the morning and I'm really bad at getting up." Eva Samkova follows her training schedule religiously. In the off-season she runs, cycles and goes to the gym. She adds explosiveness exercises to her regime the closer she gets to competition. She regards her most memorable achievement as winning gold in snowboard cross at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. The 2014 Olympic Champion considers Canadian Snowboarder Maelle Ricker as her hero. Samkova has a really weird ritual. She paints a moustache on her top lip for good luck. She does the sport with the philosophy, "I just want to enjoy snowboarding. I'm winning because I enjoy it." She was selected as the Czech Republic's flag bearer for the opening ceremony of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. She competes with a picture of a wolf on her helmet. "Somehow I feel like a wolf corresponds to me. I like wolves, they are beautiful. We have some common features like shyness and harshness. They are very attached to their pack. For me, it's not an ordinary animal but something of a magical creature." Her gold medal in snowboard cross at the 2014 Games in Sochi was her country's first snowboard medal at an Olympic Winter Games. "It is really nice to bring the gold medal to the Czech Republic but it doesn't change anything in me."

Samková initially competed in freestyle snowboarding but she had to stop the sport because of several injuries. She then began competing in snowboard cross in the 2008/2009 season. Her trainers are Marek Jelínek and Jakub Flejšar. Her signature in competitions is a moustache drawn on her upper lip. "It’s a lucky charm. … It all started in La Molina at the 2011 World Championships, which were my first. I painted a moustache on and I finished fifth, " Eva Samkova said in an interview on the origin of the mustache. Samková won the Junior World Championship three times in the years 2010, 2011 and 2013. Samkova also won the Czech national title in 2013. She won three races of the World Cup series (Blue Mountain and Montafon 2013, Vallnord-Arcalís 2014). Later, after skipping the 2011/2012 season due to knee injury, she got the fourth position in the FIS Snowboard World Cup series in the 2012/2013 season. In December 2013, she won the Winter Universiade. She won a gold medal in snowboard cross for the Czech Republic at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Samková attracted a lot of comment and speculation because she participated in the quarter-final, semi-final and final races with a moustache drawn on her face. She said it was for luck. In the same year Samková placed second at the Winter X Games in Aspen. After her win at the 2014 Olympics, she continued her steady climb up the rankings. She finished second in the World Cup standings for the 2015/16 season, then won her first World Cup title in 2016/17. In 2016, she earned her second X Games silver medal (finishing behind Lindsey Jacobellis). One thing still missing from her collection was a world championships medal. In her most recent competitions, the Czech snowboarder placed sixth in 2015 and 12th in 2017. Samková has her own show called 'Eva tropí hlouposti' which can be translated as 'Eva Fools Around' named in reference to famous Czech comedy film by Martin Frič.

The net worth of the snowboarder is currently unavailable.

The athlete is quite active on Social media and can be followed on her Instagram, Twitter and Facebook pages. Her Instagram account is @eva_samkova, her Twitter handle is @SamkovaEva and her Facebook page is Eva Samkova. She uploads a lot of her random photos and photos from her competitions on her social media accounts.