EUGENE (from our correspondent) – Before the race, seasoned coach Dalibor Kupka, who is in charge of the relay, said: “If we could advance to the finals, it would be a huge success.” And he came! In addition, it was not a game of hundreds, the Czech quarterbacks advanced directly from the second place of their start.
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Maslák contributed the most. A man crowned with success, who nine years ago even ran in the individual finals of the Thursday at the World Championships, has rather dampened his decline in performance in recent years.
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But this year he was able to awaken the power of the Havířov dragon, as he was nicknamed in his golden years. In his second leg, he moved the relay from sixth to third place, moreover, in an excellent intermediate time of 44.73 s.
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“I am very surprised,” said the 31-year-old Maslák, whose preparation for the season was hampered by an injury. “It felt like I was running almost a second slower. But I ran with the others and they were fast, so it doesn’t seem that way,” he said.
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His years of experience came in handy on the run, where he did not let the German Manuel Senders in front of him. “He was a bit above me, so I thought I couldn’t leave him in front of me. I slightly accelerated and then seamlessly joined the others,” described the less experienced member of the quartet.
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“Matěj ran with us for the first time and we are in the finals right away. We’ll probably take him with us as a doll for good luck,” he teased Krsko from Kladno, a three-time national champion and a novice in the relay.
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Maslák et al. they already have medals from the European Indoor Championships, but this is their first time in the finals at a major world event. “And if something goes well with the relay, then the joy is fourfold,” he knew.
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They can go even faster
What about the final, which is scheduled for Monday at 4:35 CEST as the penultimate discipline of the championship? “Four fall and we overtake one,” joked Maslák.
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“I believe we can run even faster. It’s the World Cup final, it’s going to be fun, we’re going to have a good track. Of course, there can be caroms, but hopefully we will avoid them and overtake a relay,” said the finisher Patrik Šorm, who made up his mind after being eliminated in the start of the individual fourth.
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