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The life of Jakub Jurka, a twenty-five-year-old habán from Olomouc, athlete, student and entrepreneur, was leading to this moment. And not just the fencing one. For those three minutes, when on the board in the pompous glass hall of the Grand Palais, in which eight thousand French fans are already proudly singing the victory chant, he will show the whole world an absolutely phenomenal sporting performance. As a good leader, he will lead the Czech corduroy team to a bronze medal at the Olympic Games.
When he entered the final battle against local star and favorite Yannick Borel, substitute Michal Čupr handed him the match after a valiant performance against Midelton with a four-point loss. But thirty-five-year-old Borel knew what Jurka was capable of. And so he kept encouraging Midelton to make lunges so that the cushion would grow even more.
Olympics 2024 in Paris
When Jurek took the stage, the essentials that shaped him were probably reflected. How dad Tomáš, coach and principal of the primary school in Velké Týnec near Olomouc, took care of him and his two brothers when their mother left them at twelve. How he went to a child psychologist to deal with it all. How the father didn’t mess with the boys when raising them, but he instilled in them everything essential. Or when, at the age of thirteen, he put it on his heart that the World Championship in Tashkent really had to be a success, because it could be his last championship, because perhaps there would be no money in the tight family budget for another one.
“Daddy, why are you so mean to me, why do you tell me that I failed?” Jakub bit the educational lessons.
“Damn it, don’t…!” his father scolded him.
“He always prepared us for the fact that now we mustn’t give up… That not only in fencing, but in life, the moment comes when you have to take action. That’s how it makes you the person you are. Maybe it will show at the Olympics,” said Jakub Jurka before the games in an interview for Seznam Zprávy.
And he boldly declared: “The only goal is a medal.”
Simple? Maybe. Unreal? We already know not.
“I wouldn’t have dared to say something like that before Tokyo, where I got from qualifying at the last minute. In my twenties, I didn’t know how to deal with it. Now I know what it entails. I am further along in life, more mature, and I can handle thoughts differently. Dad and I have a strategy planned. It’s a lot about concentration,” he described.
That moment came on a balmy Friday evening, August 2, 2024, in the hall where he had been announced as the best junior in the world years ago in a grand ceremony. He met actors Alain Delon, Milla Jovovich, Uma Thurman and Robbie Williams sang for him at a private concert.
She has such beautiful memories here. How about adding more?
But the score is 31:35. And he has three minutes. That’s not much, although in fencing, eternity. No, he and the nice guy Borel know that the habán from Hané doesn’t…
But the home team will start the crucial game with a point. 31:36. Phew, you really need to get busy.
The entire Grand Palais is already celebrating. Borel ne, the Olympic champion from Rio and the second best fencer in the world, seemed to know what was coming next and why he was urging the cautious Midelton to attack.
What followed was a truly great performance by an athlete determined to pursue his dream - an Olympic medal, about which he first spoke publicly at the age of seventeen.
Borel seems nervous under the weight of expectation, the mood in the hall clearly does not correspond to his. After all, France cannot be at home without a medal in its national sport.
But before he finds out what is happening, Jurka turns to 38:37. And then at 40:37. Czech fans learn the concepts of hitting such as a six over the head to the back or an octave to the middle of the body on television and fully discover the attractiveness of fencing. Jurka has both a sixth and an octave in her little finger and demonstrates it vividly at critical moments. Perfection.
Jiří Beran, a forty-two-year-old matador who says goodbye to his career at the Games, marvels under the board. What’s going on? She wraps a towel around her neck, trying to hold back tears: Am I really going to say goodbye to a bronze dot? A historic success?
In addition, his dad co-comments the Czech Television broadcast. He is also amazed and shouts: Kubo, Kubík, come! Chills go to everyone and everywhere. In trouble, Borel is still changing the cord, trying to stop Jurka from taking off. How is it going? Hala no longer dances and sings.
The French Musketeer still returns to the match, 41:40! Five seconds to go. Phew! “That’s still plenty of time,” co-commentator Beran Sr. realizes.
But when Borel tries for the last lunge, Jurka avoids it and adds the decisive shot himself, a second before the end, 43:41. It is clear, Mesdames et Messieurs.
Borel squatted down, rubbed the stubble on his chin. Jurka jumps, squats. He defeated Borel, Mr. Swordsman, 12:6 in three minutes. Unreal. Phenomenal. Top. Really.
He accomplished something great. Something he had been working towards his whole life. Nevertheless, even at this moment, he realizes that it is necessary to show respect to the defeated sap. The other members of the team - Martin Rubeš, Jiří Beran and Michal Čupra will be kept off the board with a gesture before the joint celebration breaks out in full.
Jurka got hit, even though he weighs something, his friends threw him with their last strength into the air of the glass hall, which witnessed the surprise. Beautiful sports competition and story. For example, Aries’ departure.
“For me it’s a golden point, even though it’s bronze. It’s something unreal. I wanted to say goodbye under five rings, the season was terribly demanding. It’s truly a dream come true with this bunch. I will remember it till the day I die. When I hear Paris or get here, I’ll just cheer,” said Aries excitedly.
However, the hero of the day was Jakub Jurka.
“We said to ourselves with the boys when we entered the stage at the Grand Palais and the whole audience saw us: So no matter how it turns out, this is the greatest experience of our lives. Against the home team in front of their home crowd and at the Olympics for a medal, nothing could be bigger. Whether it’s gold, silver or bronze, it doesn’t matter,” Jurka looked at him with pure happiness in his eyes. “Everyone must have courage. When everyone looks at us as we opened the medal harvest, colleagues and friends will continue. It was also a challenge for us that they offered us this deferred gauntlet.”
Jakub’s grandfather, Jaroslav Jurka, world vice-champion and participant in two Olympics, must be crying with emotion. Maybe even now.
Dad Tomáš, the everyday hero, as well. They gave it.
