Prague - A few years ago the Czech government tried to fight racism and xenophobia this nation is said to be prone to using billboards with an image of a black ice-hockey goalkeeper sporting the national dress of the Czech Republic.
The campaign's goal was to make the less enlightened members of the public realize that being Czech doesn't necessarily mean being white.
What was then conceived as a deliberate provocation attacking the widely held stereotypical (or quite literally, black and white) beliefs has now been overshadowed by reality.
19-year old Nella Simaová, daughter of an Angolan father and a Czech mother, is to make her big international debut today, representing her native Czech Republic at the European Figure Skating Championships in Zagreb.
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Skating since the age of 4
She has been skating since the age of four and twice won the national championships as a junior. In 2006 she started competing at a senior level, finishing second at the national championships and winning the Golden Spin of Zagreb annual competition.
Last year she came out on top at the national championships and is now the undisputed No.1 among the Czech female figure skaters.
The student of economics at a university in Ostrava has never been to Africa, but her coach says her powerful jumps must have something to do with the genes.
Even if she fails to match her compatriot Tomáš Verner who on Thursday won a first gold medal for the Czech Republic in more than ten years at the European chamionships, she is guaranteed to make history today.
Never before has an athlete of an ethnic background like hers represented the Czech Republic at a major sporting event, much less in winter sports. It seems the time has come to shelve those stereotypes for good.
