Olympic silver medalist in water slalom from London 2012 Vavřinec Hradilek ended his professional career. The 37-year-old kayaker made his decision after the weekend nomination races in Veltrusy, where he lost the chance to get into the national team for this year and was not feeling well because he had problems with his left hand.
Prague
13:56 24. 4. 2024 (Updated: 14:30 24/04/2024)
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Vavřinec Hradilek | Photo: Jaroslav Svoboda Source: ČTK
At the weekend, he will complete the second nomination weekend in Troja. “It’s the end of being a professional athlete. My relationship with the water is so intense, whether it’s down the river or the community of people, so I certainly don’t stop paddling and I don’t stop going to the shipyard in Troy. I will no longer be a full-time slalom skier,” said the kayaker, who, in addition to Olympic silver, also holds two world championship titles. In Prague 2013, he won it in classic water slalom, in 2017 in kayak cross.
Hradilek was fully preparing for the current season and ideally wanted to say goodbye at the World Cup in Prague in June. But two weeks ago he started feeling weakness in his left hand. “It started to get worse, that hand wasn’t working well. The connection with the cervical spine, which has been my weak link since 2010, was confirmed,” he explained.
This was reflected in his performances in Veltrusy, where he received only one point for the nomination for tenth place on Saturday. It was the thirteenth on Sunday. “It was mainly the feeling of riding that convinced me that I decided to quit now during the week between nominations,” he said.
On the weekend in Troja, he would like to race to the fullest. He would like to say goodbye with an exhibition race on the weekend of June 8 and 9, when the World Cup will culminate in Prague. “I don’t have concrete outlines yet. Now will be the time to organize it,” he noted.
Hradilek was in the national team for the first time in 2007. In addition to the Olympics in London, he also competed under the five rings in Beijing 2008. He last represented at the top event in the Olympic year 2021, when he finished fourth at the European Championships in both kayaking and kaykacross.
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