Sport in Slovakia

288/1997 on Physical Culture was approved, which also included articles on educational and commercial activities in sport.

[2] The most successful sporting club is Vojenské športové centrum DUKLA Banská Bystrica with 31 different medals in the year 2011.

After the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, Slovak national ice hockey team started competing in Group C (lowest tier) of IIHF World Championships.

Since the Velvet revolution there have been much more Slovak players in the NHL, such as Peter Bondra, Marián Hossa, Pavol Demitra or Zdeno Chára.

There are also three national hockey leagues in Slovakia, with Tipsport Extraliga being the top tier of the system.

After finishing 2nd in 2012 IIHF World Championship a cheering crowd of tens of thousands people greeted the national team players on SNP Square in Bratislava,[5] which exemplifies the popularity of this sport in the country.

Since 1993, Slovak national football team has qualified once to the FIFA World Cup and once to the UEFA European Championship, In 2010, they proceeded into Play-offs, where they were defeated by Netherlands, The most notable result was the 3–2 victory over Italy.

In club competitions, only three teams have qualified to UEFA Champions League Group Stage, namely MFK Košice in 1997–98, FC Artmedia Bratislava in 2005–06 season and MŠK Žilina in 2010–11.

FC Artmedia Bratislava has been the most successful team after finishing 3rd in Group Stage and therefore qualifying to Round of 32 of UEFA Cup.

The most famous Slovak players are: Marek Hamšík, Martin Škrtel, Juraj Kucka, Peter Dubovský and Jozef Adamec.

[7] The most successful men's teams are Basketbal Pezinok with 7 wins, BC Prievidza and BK Inter Bratislava.

To most successful women's teams belong Good Angels Košice with 12 consecutive and MBK Ružomberok with 11 wins.

Slovakia national basketball team has so far never qualified for any Olympic Games, world or European championships.

In September Slovakia will debut in the annual international rink bandy tournament in Nymburk, Czech Republic.

Whitewater slalom is the most successful Olympic sport in modern-day Slovakia with 8 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals since 1993.

Apart from winning many World and European Championships, Slovak canoeists collected medals in each Summer Olympic Games since their first appearance in Atlanta 1996.

[8][9] The most famous athletes are Michal Martikán, Pavol Hochschorner/Peter Hochschorner, Ladislav Škantár/Peter Škantár, Elena Kaliská, Jana Dukátová, Alexander Slafkovský and Matej Beňuš.

She successfully defended her sprint title at the 2014 Winter Olympics, and took a third gold in the 2018 Games in the mass start, along with two silvers in the pursuit and the individual.

Peter Velits was classified second at the 2010 Vuelta a España after initial runner-up Ezequiel Mosquera was disqualified for a positive test for Hydroxyethyl starch.