Olympiad | The Czech coach has already guided the Japanese woman to Olympic gold. Everyone gets drunk in Domažlice, he laughed – Sport.cz

Paris (from our correspondent) – “How is it like there? I guess I can imagine it, everyone will be drunk,” explained Sekerák humorously a few minutes after the race, in which he achieved his most valuable coaching success. With his ward, he kept to the highest goals at the Domažlice stadium.

He was also immediately surrounded by a group of enthusiastic Japanese journalists, who connected him to a cafe in Domažlica via video call. “They are from the local magazine Atletika. They were already behind us in Domažlice. They got drunk too, it’s not enough for them, they have a different situation than us,” laughed Sekerák. Every fan in the Land of the Rising Sun already knows his story.

How he met the talented but stagnant Kitaguchi six years ago at a conference in Kuortan, Finland, and they agreed to work together. How he hosted a smiling Japanese woman in his apartment and she has learned Czech very well so far. And above all, how he kicked his career to world gold last year and now also to Olympic victory.

“I love Japan, but I had to go to the Czech Republic because there are amazing athletes,” Kitaguchi explained at a press conference after her gold race.

It was not an easy journey this year. “She still had a little pain, we kept working on something,” the coach explains. She was fourth at the last Diamond League in London. “I think that helped her. Then we were going for the Olympics and she turned up. She can do that, she’s a good competitor,” the coach suggested.

Kitaguchiová decided the tournament on the first attempt. “That’s how we agreed. She felt good, the splurge looked luxurious. I saw the timer that it would only run, that it would drag on, so I said let them try to put 67 meters in the first one,” he says. Finally the javelin flew to 65.80 m, even so the Japanese woman won by almost two meters.

In a year, Kitaguchi will be one of the stars of the World Championships in Tokyo. “It’s going to be difficult, he has to sort it out in his head. She also made some changes that were against my will, but all performance is based on compromise. After the season, we will sit down and plan for the year, we still have a contract for next year,” said Sekerák, who has reached the highest level of coaching.

“I have everything I wanted. World champion and Olympic champion. Petra still has to be the European champion,” he hit Petra Sičaková, who was standing nearby and took a good fourteenth place in her Olympic debut. “She is finally on what she got to sell,” Sekerák was happy.

Now he was going to celebrate. “I have to pick up a beer at the Czech bar,” he said. He was wearing a t-shirt with the words Japan on it, because he had decided to be a member of the Japanese tour. “So I made room for Mir and that’s how it worked,” he laughed in a friendly hug with Miroslav Guzdek, who helped Nikola Ogrodníková win the bronze as a mentor.