Ivan Luknár Trophy

Event title: Ivan Luknár Trophy

Contact person: Róbert Paradi

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Address / location: Gymnázium Pierra de Coubertina in Piešťany, Slovakia

Ema Miháliková from Gymnázium Pierra de Coubertina in Piešťany was awarded by the Ivan Luknár Trophy 2021. She was the first winner ever of sports-knowledge competition, which was part of the transnational project Coubertin Academy – Social Inclusion through Sport Values.

Ivan Luknár Trophy is to commemorate a great enthusiast and admirer of the ideals of Pierre de Coubertin. Ivan Luknár made a significant contribution to the fact that Gymnázium Pierra de Coubertina in Piešťany bears the name of the founder of modern Olympics. Ivan Luknár was also a founder and supporter of modern pentathlon in Piešťany. For his eternal ideals and the unscrupulous desire to prove and realize the impossible, he became a unique member of modern pentathlon family as well as the international community of schools bearing the name Pierre de Coubertin.

Ivan Luknár worked professionally as a pedagogue and later as a long-time director of Gymnázium Pierra de Coubertina in Piešťany, Slovakia. He had been in charge of the school from 1992 to 2014. His passion for sport and the values of Olympism had a huge impact on his students and colleagues. Thanks to Ivan's great efforts and enthusiasm, the school joined the International Network of Pierre de Coubertin Schools in 1999. He participated in numerous major events of the International Pierre de Coubertin Committee.

He realized one of his many dreams by having the 10th International Youth Forum of Pierre de Coubertin Schools in 2015 in Slovakia and thus writing a successful new page of the International Pierre de Coubertin Committee history. Inspirator, teacher, athlete, sports figure, promoter of sports virtues, Ivan Luknár was a recognized authority not only in Slovakia but also abroad.

The transnational project Coubertin Academy – Social Inclusion through Sport Values was dedicated in honour of Ivan Luknár, who passed away in 2018.