Matej Tóth

Matej Tóth is one of the most successful Slovak athletes in history, renowned for his achievements in race walking. His career reached its pinnacle at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, where he won the gold medal in the 50 km race walk, becoming the first Slovak athlete to claim an Olympic athletics title since Slovakia’s independence. A year earlier, he became the World Champion in the same event at the 2015 World Athletics Championships in Beijing. That same year, he recorded the third-fastest 50 km race walk time in history at the Dudinská 50 competition. Thanks to these outstanding accomplishments, he was named Slovakia’s Sportsman of the Year in 2016. Tóth officially retired from professional athletics after the Tokyo Olympic Games. Following the end of his competitive career, he has remained deeply involved in both sport and education, drawing on his academic background in journalism. Today, he leads the successful Matej Tóth Sports Academy, which encourages primary school children to embrace an active and healthy lifestyle. He also serves as Vice President of the Slovak Athletic Federation and as a member of the Executive Board of the Slovak Olympic and Sports Committee.