What prevails before the first diamond duel with Indo Čopra and other aces? Nervousness or excitement?
Excitement for sure. For me, Doha personifies the best conditions. It’s extremely hot, the first race where you want to use everything you’ve trained for. It is one of the best destinations in the world for javelin, and the results prove me right. I never threw under 86 and a half meters at the meet there.
You already have one start, unusually early in the first half of March you threw 87 meters at the training camp in Potchefstroom, South Africa. This will surely give you peace of mind as well.
This year I pitched extremely early, last year it was a month and a half late. But we wanted the race not to interfere with my training and I could complete everything. Because he has to relax a bit before the race and this one came out on my time off. The last time I threw this early it was 78 meters so a great start for me. But the season has one peak and one pre-peak.
The curiosity was that the javelin in the stadium flew as far as the sector, on the tartan. Has this ever happened to you?
Once, yes, in the same stadium. It’s nice for the spectators, it also had an overlap, even the local rugby players and other athletes knew about it.
You wanted to complete all the trainings, did you succeed? Has your health slowed you down?
Everything really happened in good mood and form, which is great. Now just to iron out the technical stuff. It’s also due to age, I already know what suits me and what doesn’t.
You are 33 years old, what have you changed with age?
I have a great team around me. For the first time I had my physiotherapist Pavel Brynd from Kladno with me, another physiotherapist Honza Vocásek was also available. At my age, I already train four to five hours a day and spend three hours in physiotherapy. What I take from the body, it must give back.
Are you still planning a traditional training camp in Turkey?
After Doha, I’m moving to it, I’ll be in Belek until May 24, and I’ll return to Zlata tretra.
Olympic champion and world champion Niraj Chopra also moved from South Africa to Turkey. Did you manage to meet?
He has been in Turkey for two months, he flew out of Africa when we arrived. But I met more opponents, after three years there was also a Pakistani (world vice-champion Arshad Nadim) and he looked in shape.
The German Julian Weber, on the other hand, showed on Instagram how he threw 85 meters in training with completed attempts. You don’t follow social networks, but do we get news about rivals?
I don’t have accounts on the networks, but everything comes to me through other channels, so I have a rough idea of how everyone is doing. Julian is certainly motivated, he will defend the European title, but he does not yet have a medal from the world events. Everyone is going to give it 101 percent this year.
Last year, after a long time, the 90-meter mark did not fall for the whole year. So do you expect longer distances to be fought in the Olympic season?
I think it will be better quality. Although, in my opinion, the season before last year was the best with the new type of javelin, when seven of us threw 89 meters. Last year there were a lot of injuries, a lot of people coming back. Five rings kicks a lot of guys…
This year, 90 was already in February thanks to the young German Max Dehning. Do you expect him to join your rivals, or was it more of a one-off?
It was a fluke, but he improved his personal record by eleven meters. Even the Germans in Africa watched quite a bit when he skipped 80 and went straight for 90. It will be difficult for him to repeat such an extremely well-hit throw. His technique is a bit of a fluke, which was seen when he struggled with 80 the following week. But that’s understandable, and if he throws like 85, that’s great for his age, but he’ll be in his 20s and just starting his career. He is extremely strong, more than 99 percent of spearmen, it will be difficult for him to move there.
Is your plan to race less until the Olympics, for example following the example of Čopra?
There will be significantly fewer starts, only five. I wouldn’t say that I was inspired by Níraj, there are still plenty of races after the Olympics, but last year I had the World Championships in Budapest as the tenth race of the season and the body was already a bit exhausted physically and mentally.
The Diamond Leagues in Doha and Paris, the national championships in Zlín, the European championships in Rome and the Golden Shoe await you. In Ostrava, you will also meet Čopra again, you will definitely not want to lose at home.
For me, this year will be the first time I arrive at Tretra rested and prepared. I mostly did it after races or minor injuries, this year I should be in shape, ready for the European Championships. So hopefully I’ll surpass the 82 or 83 meters I’ve been throwing there for the last few years.
The golden sneaker is certainly important for your coach Jan Železný, who is the director of the meeting.
Tretra’s reach is the largest in the Czech Republic, perhaps greater than that of the Diamond Leagues. It is the biggest Czech race, a favorite for me. I’ve already won it twice and a hat-trick would be nice, although not only Niraj will definitely be against it and try not to make it unpleasant for me.
Tags: Vadlejch caused stir Africa flipping sector tartan hes
