Josef Dostal
- Country
- Czechia
- Club
- Dukla Praha
- National team
- Czechia Canoe Sprint
- Born
- 1993-03-03
Josef Dostál is the Olympic champion in the men's K1 1000m and one of the most decorated kayakers of the modern era. Born in Prague on 3 March 1993 and racing for Dukla Prague, the Czech has built his career on the 500m and 1000m distances — and on a rare knack for delivering at every Games he has attended. His Olympic ledger reads five medals from four Games: K4 1000m bronze in London 2012 as a teenager, K1 1000m silver and K4 1000m bronze in Rio 2016, K2 1000m bronze in Tokyo, and finally the K1 1000m gold in Paris 2024 that completed the set. At the World Championships he has been just as relentless, taking the K1 1000m and K4 1000m titles in 2014 and adding a string of K1 500m crowns in 2017, 2018, 2022, 2024 and 2025. The Paris triumph earned him the Czech Sportsperson of the Year award for 2024. At 33 he is still racing a full programme. The 2026 season has brought 24 starts and five podium finishes in a campaign that ran through the Czech nationals, the World Cup circuit — including [Montreal](/news/montreal-canoe-sprint-world-cup-2026-recap-en) — and the European Championships in Montemor-o-Velho, where he lined up among the [established favourites](/news/2026-eca-canoe-sprint-european-championships-preview-en) of the K1 field. The World Championships in Poznań (26–30 August) sit next on the season calendar, with Los Angeles 2028 qualification running through the world rankings — and Dostál has never yet left an Olympic Games without a medal.