The stamp issued by the Czech Post on the occasion of the XX Winter Olympic Games, Torino, Italy, with the additional print 'K. Neumannová - Gold Medal', won the second prize in the competition of stamps celebrating this event run by the International Olympic Committee.

Representatives of the Czech Post will receive the award from Jacques Rogge, President of the IOC, and Juan Antonio Samaranch, Honorary President of the IOC, at the Olympic Congress to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark on October 3rd-5th, 2009.

The Winter Olympic Games, with the estimated discipline where the Czech Republic had a hope for winning a medal, was one of the 2006 stamp issues motifs.

Zdeněk Netopil's 'Women - Classic Racing' became the winning design. This was not the first success of Netopil - he was also the author of the successful additional print to the 2002 stamp celebrating the Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, featuring the winner of the gold medal in ski jumps, Aleš Valenta.

The co-author and engraver of the stamp with K. Neumannová at the Torino Winter Olympics was Bohumil Šneider. The stamp with the medal winning print was issued on March 15th, 2006.

Printing technology makes Czech stamps a world rarity

The high level of quality of graphic design and printing technology of Czech stamps enjoys a long tradition based on the former Czechoslovak stamp design created by outstanding artists (including Alfons Mucha, Max Švabinský, Karel Svolinský, Cyril Bouda and others, followed by today's Adolf Born, Oldřich Kulhánek, etc.) cooperating with famous engravers (Bedřich Housa, Miloš Ondráček, Václav Fajt, Martin Srb, Josef Herčík, Bohumil Šneider).

Although typography was still used to print the first Czechoslovak stamp, designed by Alfons Mucha, the demanding recess printing technology was employed for most postal stationeries after 1925. There are only three places in the world still using the combined rotary recess printing - the Prague postal stationery printing house Poštovní tiskárna cenin Praha is one of them.

The use of engraving is also rare. No wonder this highly demanding profession is considered an artistic craft. The more valued it is. The profession has traditionally been used in the design of banknotes, and stamps alike. As things that make life of counterfeiters difficult, the small pieces of graphic art contribute to the security of banknotes and stamps.

French president makes it clear he's a stamp lover

Today the practical purpose rather than beauty prevails. Most countries use the cheaper photographic printing to produce postage stamps. One of the great pioneers of this technology was France - until the election of Nicolas Sarkozy as president. As a keen philatelist, Sarkozy ordered a partial return to the original stamp design technology using engraved steel plates.

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