Martin Koukal is a former Czech national and world champion in cross-country skiing and from this week also a new teacher at the Palestra in Coaching school.

His greatest achievement is the title of World Champion in the 50 km free technique at the World Championships in Val di Fiemme in 2003. It was also the first World Cross-Country Skiing Championship title in the history of the independent Czech Republic.

Other great achievements are the bronze medal from the World Championships in Oberstdorf in 2005 in the team sprint (with Dušan Kožíšek), the World Cup victory in the relay in Davos in 2007 (together with Jakš, Bauer and Milan Šperl) and the bronze medal from the Olympic Games in Vancouver in 2010 in the 4x10km relay (with Martin Jakš, Lukáš Bauer and Jiří Magál).

After the Olympic Games in Vancouver, he left the national team and went to focus only on long-distance running, especially the FIS Marathon Cup long-distance series, where he came third overall in the 2013/2014 season. In May 2014 he retired as a professional cross-country skier.

More about his current activities can be found at https://www.martinkoukal.cz/