Spotlight on Aktuálně.cz – Petr Vichnar | Video: The Spotlight Team

He became a permanent member of the sports editorial staff of Czechoslovak Television in 1978. Since then, Petr Vichnar has broadcast hundreds of hours of live broadcasts from the Olympic Games, World Championships and hockey league. He recently celebrated his seventieth birthday, and even though he is retired, he has not left any goals, points, seconds. “It took me a while to put myself in a position to be able to watch sport as a spectator,” admits the journalist.

And he remembers how difficult it is to remember the names and numbers of hundreds of players during, for example, the World Hockey Championship. “Also, you can’t always see the numbers. So you have to remember, for example, how someone holds the hockey stick, or any other sign of a given player. Of course, it’s not possible to recognize it for all. two hundred players, but we always managed to achieve it in a few days”, he explains Vichnar.

In the interview he also admits that although he is one of the calmest commentators, there were times when he could not let go of his emotions – even during the times of socialism. “In the previous regime, when we played with the Soviet Union, for example, we all had a bit of censorship in us. But back then I didn’t play for that and I shouted with a lot of enthusiasm,” he remembers from the World Cup. in 1985 and Vladimír Růžička’s goal, which later contributed to the defeat of the USSR. “I shouted so much that they came to scold me during the break,” laughs the commentator.

You can watch the full interview in the intro video or listen to it in your favorite podcast app.