Kopecký won the national decathlon championship with a total of 8310 points. For a better idea of the value of performance: only eight athletic universals in the world scored more points this year, Kopecký is third in European tables. No one in the Czechs has experienced such a performance for five years.
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“I expected to improve, but I rather aimed to get over 8000 points this year,” admits Kopecký. After all, he has pushed the maximum by a massive almost 700 points this year!
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After Helcelet, Sýkor or Doležal, he was another of a number of talents with the potential to build on the success of the Czech decathlon school. However, five years ago he set a junior European heptathlon record. But after the completion of athletic maturity not and not break through.
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“I was in a crisis, he didn’t know what to do next, and he was a little drowned in it,” he admits. In November 2020, he wrote to Šebrle. They knew each other more by sight, but they were united by the personality of the Pardubice coach Jiří Čechák, under whom they both trained. “I’m sorry, but I wouldn’t have time for that,” was the then answer of the Olympic winner from Athens, whose program was filled with moderation of television news, golf and other activities.
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But in a year, during the traditional Šéba Cup football tournament, which he organizes himself, Šebrle came to Kopecký and nodded. “When he told me how he trains, it had nothing to do with decathlon. A week in Pardubice, a week in Prague. I thought he’d wrap it up. At the same time, I knew that it had potential, and I was also going through a new stage in my life, “says Šebrle, who was dealing with his marital situation at the time.
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The joy of Ondřej Kopecký at the weekend home championship in multi-combat.Photo: Tomáš Edlman / atletika.cz
Eight years after the end of his career, he started going to Prague’s Juliska again and peeked into his old training diaries. “Golf had to be aside and I spend whole days at the stadium. The skeleton is similar to what I experienced with Zdeněk Váni and Dalibor Kupka, I’m just trying to adapt it for Ondra, “he describes his recipe, which still works.
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And in training, it’s not just about theoretical explanations. “He throws a ball and a disc with us, he even ran in preparation. And he was better with perseverance, he also beats us in the gym, he has it in him, “says Kopecký.
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During the races, he gets to take Šebrle’s psyche. “I thought they wouldn’t turn gray until they were fifty, but it would probably come in a few days,” Šebrle, 47, jokes. “He works well with Ondra, I would say he has an even better approach than I did. He is modest and has high goals, “he describes the most successful of his four charges.
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According to his coach, he has a lot of reserves at the age of 24. “Everything can rise for another four years. He has a sense of distance, how he has grown, the litters are improving and he is a pole vaulter, he can jump to 550, “prophes Šebrle.
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After all, Kopecký is close to pole vault, his partner is the former junior world champion Amálie Švábíková. Both now have a fresh limit for the European Championships in Munich. “It was also a motivation for me to go together,” admits Kopecký. And thanks to their ranking, they could even fly together to Eugene, USA, for the July World Cup.
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“Qualification according to ranking is the biggest stupidity that destroys athletics, perhaps the paskvil will end soon. But I believe that Ondra is nominated, I just lie in how to time the form to race well in the world and have the top in Europe, which will be more interesting for him in terms of results. And because of the World Cup, I’ll have to change the news anyway, “smiles the coach and moderator in one.
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