{{Short description|Czech sport shooter (born 1972)}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Miroslav Januš | image = | caption = | nationality = {{CZE}} | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1972|8|9|df=y}} | birth_place = Postupice, Czechoslovakia | death_date = | death_place = | height = {{height|m=1.83|abbr=on}} | weight = {{convert|80|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}} | website = | country = | sport = Shooting | event = 10 m running target (10RT)<br>50 m running target (50RT) | club = Dukla Plzeň<ref name=issf/> | coach = Ján Kermiet<ref name=issf/> | medaltemplates = {{MedalSport | Men's shooting}} {{MedalCountry|the {{CZE}}}} {{MedalCount | Olympic Games | 0 | 0 | 1 | World Championships | 2 | 4 | 3 | European Championships | 14 | 9 | 6 |'''Total'''|'''16'''|'''13'''|'''10''' }} {{MedalCompetition|Olympic Games}} {{MedalBronze| 1996 Atlanta | 10RT}} {{MedalCompetition|World Championships}} {{MedalSilver | 1994 Milan | 10RTMIX }} {{MedalSilver |2006 Zagreb|50RT}} {{MedalSilver | 2008 Plzeň |10RT}} {{MedalSilver | 2009 Vierumäki |10RTMIX}} {{MedalBronze | 1994 Milan | 50RTMIX }} {{MedalBronze |2006 Zagreb|10RT}} {{MedalBronze | 2008 Plzeň |50RT}} | show-medals = no }}
'''Miroslav Januš''' (born 9 August 1972) is a Czech sport shooter. A four-time Olympian (1992 to 2004), Januš is one of Czech Republic's most successful individual shooters in Olympic history, having won a bronze medal in the 10 m running target at Atlanta 1996. Outside his Olympic career, Januš has produced a career record of 120 medals in a major international competition, including fourteen golds at the European Championships, and a total of ten in different color at the Worlds since his debut came as a junior in 1989.<ref name=issf>{{cite web|title=ISSF Profile – Miroslav Januš|url=http://www.issf-sports.org/shooters/shooter.ashx?personissfid=SHCZEM0908197201|publisher=ISSF|accessdate=18 October 2014}}</ref>
==Career== Started shooting at the age of fourteen, Januš ascended to prominence in the international scene as part of the former Czechoslovakia team in 1989. By that time, he set a junior world record of 566 in the running target to successfully claim his first ever gold medal at the World Championships in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.<ref name=issf/><ref name=janus-100medal>{{cite news|title=Střelec Miroslav Januš má rovnou stovku medailí|trans-title=Shooter Miroslav Januš wins his straight one hundredth medal|language=cs|url=http://www.sport.cz/ostatni/ostatni/clanek/138824-strelec-miroslav-janus-ma-rovnou-stovku-medaili.html|publisher=Sport.cz|date=22 October 2008|accessdate=2 September 2015}}</ref> Januš' early rise continued as he improved his personal best by six points for another Worlds title two years later in Stavanger, Norway. He made his first Czech team at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, but failed to reach the final in the inaugural 10 m running target, finishing ninth with a score of 572.<ref>{{cite web|title=Barcelona 1992: Shooting – Men's 10m Running Target |url=http://la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1992/1992s5.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927222351/http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1992/1992s5.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 September 2007 |work=Barcelona 1992 |publisher=LA84 Foundation |page=343 |accessdate=18 August 2015 }}</ref>
In 1995, Januš reached the peak of his shooting career by breaking a new world record of 685.5 in the running target to earn a gold medal at the ISSF World Cup meet in Seoul, South Korea.<ref name=issf/> Januš' exceptional dominance clearly made him one of the top favorites vying for an Olympic medal at his succeeding Games in Atlanta 1996.<ref>{{cite news|title=Shooting team set sights on firing Czech Olympic team to Atlanta medal success |url=http://www.praguepost.cz/archivescontent/23267-shooting-team-set-sights-on-firing-czech-olympic-team-to-atlanta-medal-success.html |publisher=The Prague Post |date=1 May 1996 |accessdate=2 September 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304104938/http://www.praguepost.cz/archivescontent/23267-shooting-team-set-sights-on-firing-czech-olympic-team-to-atlanta-medal-success.html |archivedate=4 March 2016 }}</ref> Indeed, he progressed to the 10 m running target final with a third seed at 580, and then shot brilliantly a 98.4 in the 10-shot round to give the Czechs an Olympic bronze for a total score of 678.4, trailing the Chinese duo of Yang Ling and Xiao Jun by just a few points.<ref>{{cite web|title=Atlanta 1996: Shooting – Men's 10m Running Target|url=http://library.la84.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1996/1996v3p2.pdf|work=Atlanta 1996|publisher=LA84 Foundation|page=122|accessdate=29 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Canoeists shooter only Czechs to garner hardware in Atlanta |url=http://www.praguepost.cz/archivescontent/24265-canoeists-shooter-only-czechs-to-garner-hardware-in-atlanta.html |publisher=The Prague Post |date=31 July 1996 |accessdate=2 September 2015 }}{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=China Regains Some Lost Pride|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-07-27-ss-28583-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|date=31 July 1996|access-date=2 September 2015}}</ref>
The following season, Januš established his new personal best of 685.7 to assert himself with a blazing first-place finish at the 1997 World Cup final in Lugano, Switzerland, in addition to his third straight victory from the European Championships, erasing his own record that he previously set two years earlier in Seoul by just a slim tenth of a point margin (0.1).<ref name=issf/>
Heading to his third Olympic Games in Sydney 2000 with confidence and luck, Januš was expected to be an overwhelming medal favorite for the Czechs, but in the 10 m running target, he put up a lackluster effort with a modest 91.8 on the 10-shot series, that shut him out of the podium to last in the eight-man final, accumulating a total score of 666.8. Earlier, Januš shot a slow-running 293 and a wretched 282 on the fast run to get a fifth-seeded score of 575 for the final.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sydney 2000: Shooting – Men's 10m Running Target|url=http://library.la84.org/6oic/OfficialReports/2000/Masters/sh/SHresults.pdf|work=Sydney 2000|publisher=LA84 Foundation|pages=76–77|accessdate=29 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Ludmila Formanová odstupuje pro zranění, oštěpař Jan Železný se probojoval do sobotního finále|trans-title=Ludmila Formanová withdrew due to health reasons, Jan Železný advanced to Saturday finals|language=cs|url=http://www.radio.cz/cz/rubrika/oh/ludmila-formanova-odstupuje-pro-zraneni-ostepar-jan-zelezny-se-probojoval-do-sobotniho-finale|publisher=Radio Praha|date=22 September 2000|accessdate=2 September 2015}}</ref>
The post-Sydney Olympics period sought a real test and a mighty redemption on Januš at the same shooting range two years later for the World Cup series. There, he commanded a robust two-point lead over the Russian tandem of Aleksandr Blinov and World champion Dimitri Lykin to claim the gold with 681.7, and secure an Olympic quota place for the Czech Republic towards his fourth straight Games.<ref>{{cite news|title=Střelec Januš vyhrál v Sydney|trans-title=Shooter Januš wins in Sydney|language=cs|url=http://sport.idnes.cz/strelec-janus-vyhral-v-sydney-dkl-/sporty.aspx?c=A020418_123035_sporty_vis|publisher=Mladá fronta DNES|date=18 August 2002|accessdate=2 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Shooting 2004 Olympic Qualification |url=http://www.majority-sport.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/home/msp/pages/docs/OQ04/Shooting_OQ_v2.pdf |publisher=Majority Sports |page=9 |accessdate=21 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722132244/http://www.majority-sport.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/home/msp/pages/docs/OQ04/Shooting_OQ_v2.pdf |archivedate=22 July 2015 }}</ref>
Before the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Januš held off a formidable challenge from Lykin to collect another gold in an Olympic test event at Markópoulo Olympic Shooting Centre, as part of the World Cup series, finishing in the lead at 685.5.<ref>{{cite news|title=Russia Reigns Supreme at the ISSF World Shooting Cup|url=http://en.olympic.cn/news/world/2004-04-29/156509.html|publisher=Chinese Olympic Committee|date=29 April 2004|accessdate=2 September 2015}}</ref> Upon entering the Games as an Olympic medal favorite, Januš suddenly crashed out of the men's 10 m running target final with a disastrous feat in the qualifying round. He marked a lowly 283 on the slow-target and 281 on the fast run to finish a startling fifteenth out of 19 shooters with a total score of 564, just fourteen points away from the final cutoff.<ref>{{cite web|title=Shooting: Men's 10m Running Target Prelims|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympics_2004/shooting/results/3532258.stm|work=Athens 2004|publisher=BBC Sport|date=15 August 2004|access-date=31 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Porouchala se mi hlava, říká Januš|trans-title="I broke myself to tears", according to Januš|language=cs|url=https://www.idnes.cz/oh/ateny/porouchala-se-mi-hlava-rika-janus.A040819_103435_oh04_strelba_mah|work=iDNES.cz|date=19 August 2004|accessdate=6 March 2026}}</ref>
==Olympic results== {|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center" !Event !1992 !1996 !2000 !2004 |- |align=left|10 metre running target |9th<br/>572 |style="background: #ccffcc"|{{bronze03}} Bronze<br/>580+98.4 |style="background: #ccffcc"|8th<br/>575+91.8 |15th<br/>564 |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{ISSF name|SHCZEM0908197201}} *[http://www.olympic.cz/sportovec/1416--miroslav-janus Czech Olympic Team Bio] {{in lang|cs}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Janus, Miroslav}} Category:1972 births Category:Living people Category:Czech male sport shooters Category:Olympic shooters for Czechoslovakia Category:Olympic shooters for the Czech Republic Category:Shooters at the 1992 Summer Olympics Category:Shooters at the 1996 Summer Olympics Category:Shooters at the 2000 Summer Olympics Category:Shooters at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic bronze medalists for the Czech Republic Category:Olympic medalists in shooting Category:Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Category:People from Benešov District Category:Sport shooters from the Central Bohemian Region Category:21st-century Czech sportsmen