Martin Koukal (ˈmarcɪn ˈkou̯kal) (born September 25, 1978 in Nové Město na Moravě

Nové Mesto na Morave

Nové Město na Moravě is a town in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has 10,464 inhabitants.-Business in town:Despite its location surrounded by great outdoors, the town has a long tradition of manufacturing...

) is a Czech

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

 cross country skier and mountaineer

Mountaineer

-Sports:*Mountaineering, the sport, hobby or profession of walking, hiking, trekking and climbing up mountains, also known as alpinism-University athletic teams and mascots:*Appalachian State Mountaineers, the athletic teams of Appalachian State University...

 who has been competing since 1996. He won two medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships

The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships have been held in various numbers and types of events since 1925 for men and since 1954 for women. Championship events include nordic skiing's three disciplines: cross-country skiing, ski jumping, and nordic combined...

 with gold in 50 km (2003) and a bronze in the team sprint (2005). Koukal's best finish at the Winter Olympics was a seventh in the 50 km freestyle mass start in 2006. He also won eight other events in his career from 1998 to 2005 in distances up to 15 km. He has some mountaineering successes, like his Cho Oyu

Cho Oyu

Cho Oyu is the sixth highest mountain in the world at above sea level. Cho Oyu lies in the Himalayas and is 20 km west of Mount Everest, at the border between China and Nepal...

, Huascarán

Huascarán

Huascarán or Nevado Huascarán is a mountain in the Peruvian province of Yungay, situated in the Cordillera Blanca range of the Western Andes. The highest southern summit of Huascarán is the highest point in Peru, and all the Earth's Tropics...

 and Kangchenjunga

Kangchenjunga

Kangchenjunga is the third highest mountain of the world with an elevation of and located along the India-Nepal border in the Himalayas.Kangchenjunga is also the name of the section of the Himalayas and means "The Five Treasures of Snows", as it contains five peaks, four of them over...

 expeditions. His younger brother, Petr

Petr Koukal (ice hockey)

Petr Koukal is a Czech professional ice hockey player who participated at the 2010 IIHF World Championship as a member of the Czech Republic National men's ice hockey team.-External links:...

, plays ice hockey for HC Pardubice

HC Pardubice

HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice is a professional ice hockey club that plays in the Czech Extraliga. It is located in Pardubice, home venue is ČEZ Arena. The club previously was named HC Eaton Pardubice, but since the 2011–12 season the club is named HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice.-History:Ice hockey is...

in Czech Extraliga and in 2010 also became world champion of his own.