Ice hockey came to Czechia in the early 1900s and quickly became a national passion. The game is played on an enclosed ice rink, and players wear skates, helmets, padded gloves, shin guards and shoulder pads — it is a physical sport where players can reach speeds of over 30 km/h on the ice.
The Czech national team has won the Ice Hockey World Championship several times and is consistently ranked among the best in the world alongside Canada, Russia, Sweden and Finland. Players like Jaromír Jágr, who played well into his 40s, are considered legends of the sport worldwide.
Almost every Czech town, even small ones, has an ice rink and a local ice hockey team. Children start learning to skate from a very young age, and the local hockey club is often the heart of a community's sporting life. School ice hockey leagues are very popular.
The puck used in ice hockey is made of hard vulcanised rubber and is kept in a freezer before games to stop it bouncing. It is only 3 centimetres thick and 7.6 centimetres across — small, fast and surprisingly difficult to see when a skilled player sends it travelling at over 100 km/h.