From childhood to the present, she has replaced five Olympic sports. As a pedestrian, Tereza Ďurdiaková started training only last February. In March this year, she has already managed to qualify for the Olympic Games in Tokyo! A few weeks before the race, which she nominated for the games, she suffered a very unpleasant illness with a covid.

The coach must tame her so that she does not take risks and do not train or race beyond her limits. Even though she suffers from pain, Tereza Ďurdiaková does not admit it to the coach, and she continues to fight like a lioness. From childhood, she pursued her dream - to compete in the Olympic Games. She will make it this year. And now he will tell you about his long and thorny journey.

I changed a total of five Olympic sports, from swimmer to walker. How did the rotation go?

It went gradually. I switched from swimming to aquabels quite naturally when I cried at home that I wanted to do it. At first they didn't want to take me, but after half a year I was already training with them. Subsequently, we traveled around the world with the national team.

And why didn't you stay with Aquabels?

For example, in a team, it was extremely difficult for us. The Czechia has never been in the teams at the Olympics. The duet was represented by Soňa Bernardová, a five-time participant in the games. It occurred to me that my overall performance was not perfect for me to qualify for the games. I decided to quit.

And a triathlon followed.

I got into triathlon because I liked the combination of those sports. As a former swimmer, I had a good precondition and I could do it on a bike or while running. But my exaggerated ambition buried me. I had big and relatively utopian goals. I tried to meet international limits, so I went after races around the world and tried to climb the rankings. But I didn't manage to get to the Olympics. And then came the burnout syndrome.

How long have you not played the top?

I took a break for two years when I wasn't doing anything important in sports and I only took part in hobby races like the Spartan race. Then I had the idea that I would like to try the legendary Iron Man. After two years without proper training, I prepared for the race and managed it in over 11 hours.

This gave you confidence and then the idea came to race as a marathon runner ...

I started working with coach Pavel Novák, which is a good coach. The first national medal came when I won bronze at 2:48 p.m. But my ambition caught up with me again. I tried to make it to the European Championships, where the limit was set at 2:42. My ankle betrayed me and I had a lot of injuries.

So you thought you'd be a pedestrian instead of a marathoner?

I met coach Ivo Piták, who helped me prepare for the marathons, but when the injuries limited me, I gave up mentally and asked him if I could try it as a pedestrian.

How did your rebirth from runner to walker?

Movement can be learned. I am flexible from aquabels and I have movement memory. We have tried it since February 2020, but the beginnings have been disastrous. Exactly a year ago, I was shooting a video of learning to walk, and movement was a big problem for me.

And after a year, you qualified as a pedestrian for the Olympic Games.

As a kid, I wanted to play games. When I went swimming as a child, I couldn't even say the word Olympics. I went around the apartment at home and said I wanted to go to the Olympics and watched the Olympians on TV. Nominating for games has always been a big dream for me. I still can't believe I did it.

There were a lot of obstacles on your way to the Olympic dream. And the last one was the covid infection at the end of January.

It was hard for me because I was almost never sick. Plus, everyone was training and I couldn't. I was locked in quarantine and after 10 days I suddenly couldn't train properly. I had higher liver tests. I had a hard time dealing with it. He even had to work in a psychologist because it wasn't an easy time for me.

The course of the disease itself was not easy, was it?

The course was with temperatures, extreme exhaustion, coughing and poor breathing. And above all, muscle weakness and fatigue. After the covid, he returned to training, when I had a problem with the leg muscle and general exhaustion right during the first light walking training. Endurance didn't bother me before, and suddenly two hours of training was extremely difficult. The improvement occurred after another ten days, which meant twenty days with essentially no training.

And then came mid-March, and all of a sudden you qualify for the Olympics.

I didn't want to put everything in one single start and take risks. In the end, it was a miracle that it worked. Even the coach didn't believe it. I don't know where I found those forces. When I passed the finish line, I couldn't believe it. I flew through the gate, walked another 10 meters, and then I collapsed. It wasn't a collapse, I just had enough. It only occurred to me in a tent when a friend handed me a beer and congratulated me.

You also changed the look because of the race.

I cut myself significantly by about 30 centimeters. The coach told me that if it rained, it could cost me a few seconds. Theoretically, he could be right, because it was snowing during the race. I had my hair almost up to my ass. I have them on my shoulders now. I only did it to meet the Olympics limit.

What are your goals for the Olympics?

I want to move my time there. I'm not going there unprepared. The coach always prepared his charges perfectly for the games. They even mostly improved their personal record there.

Did you learn to curb your ambitions when you trained and raced through the thread?

I've learned a little bit of it. For me, injury is a limiting factor. I started listening to my body. But the coach still has to slow me down sometimes.

I was surprised that as a summer sportswoman you have the biggest role model in speed skater Martina Sáblíková.

I have always respected Martin. It arose from that frozen pond and conditions that were not ideal. What she did fascinates me. Even her modesty. The second model was Anežka Drahotová. What she did as a pedestrian is great.