Denisa Hurban Baránková, a two-time Slovak Olympian and one of her country's most decorated archers, died Sunday night after being struck by a runaway vehicle in a residential parking lot in Bratislava's Petržalka district. She was 24 years old.
Witnesses told authorities that a tree had been blown down onto the parked car by a windstorm. Firefighters lifted the fallen tree and asked the driver to move the vehicle, at which point the car is said to have suddenly accelerated backward at high speed and lost control.
Baránková was transported to University Hospital Bratislava in critical condition. "Late in the evening, a young woman, who had been struck by a car, was brought to us. The patient was in a very critical condition, unconscious, with multiple severe injuries. Despite the enormous efforts of our medical staff, unfortunately the patient could no longer be saved and succumbed to her injuries," hospital spokeswoman Eva Kliská told STVR.
The 11-year-old girl, who had chest and head injuries, a fractured thigh bone, and was placed on artificial lung ventilation, was taken to the National Institute of Children's Diseases, according to Petra Klimešová, spokeswoman for the emergency medical operations center. The driver was treated for a head injury and later released. A breath test administered at the scene came back negative.
Baránková represented Slovakia at the Olympic Games in both Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024. At the 2021 European Championships, she claimed bronze in the recurve event—a historic first continental championship medal for Slovakia in the sport. Most recently, she won gold at last year's World Games in Chengdu, China, in field archery.
The Slovak Archery Association announced that a farewell ceremony will be held Monday, June 29, at 1:15 p.m. at a crematorium in Bratislava. The family has requested that attendees refrain from wearing black, so that the gathering may serve as a celebration of Baránková's life rather than a mourning.
"We remember her with respect. We will never forget," the association wrote.