JOZEF PRIBILINEC: WITHOUT CONFLICT THERE IS NO SUCCESS

He entered the finish line at a machine pace. A eloquent grimace on his face. Twenty kilometers at hellish pace did its thing. He looked to his left, checking the situation. "Jožko Pribilinec in less than 1:20 am, but even if he does not overcome this goal, it will be a fantastic Olympic record," Czechoslovak television commentator Stepan Skorpil roared. "But what is important - a gold medal for Czechoslovakia!" He looked around halfway down the plane. For sure. What if the man with the headband, the only one who could walk with him to the end, accelerated? No, Weigel's distance remained the same."Jožko Pribilinec can already rejoice. Gold medal for Czechoslovakia!"- the commentator doubled. One more look back. The right-hander flew into the air. Victory gesture. Jozef Pribilinec shouted something. Supposedly for the first and last time in a career race. "Jožko Pribilinec is the winner, he is the big winner of the men's twenties!" - inspired Škorpil. Last meters, goal. Honey… Finally! He proved what he had dreamed of for years. He is an Olympic winner! He covered his face with his palms, lay down on the tartan, closed his eyes, and enjoyed the delight. After a while, the silver German Ronald Weigel leaned over him and - he kissed him on the cheek. After a while, he heard someone shouting at him from the stands. Coach Juraj Benčík, a man to whom he owes a lot. He went to him, they hugged him across the fence. "I forgive you," shouted spontaneously from Benčík. "Me too!" - Jozef Pribilinec whispered in his ear. Yes, the road to Seoul gold in a 20 km walk was not a walk in the rose garden. It sparked a lot and - really. Well, for the sake of things. They were both well aware that they had a common goal: to climb the Olympics. On September 1988, XNUMX, they succeeded.

NOW OR NEVER!

"About half a mile in front of the stadium, as he walked shoulder to shoulder with Weigel, I shouted in Jo's ear from two meters: Now or never! I don't know if he heard me, but I already ran to the stadium to catch the end of the race, " Juraj Benčík mentioned on Golden Friday. He rolled in the stands like a lot of water. He shot off one organizer with his right hand, the other with his left hand. As if he felt the moment was coming that he must not miss. "I flew up to the stands, I managed to cook the last 80 meters. When I saw that Jožo was walking on the forehead with a 15-meter lead, they flew up with the joy of my hand. Suddenly I felt someone catch me and dial it, then the other. I looked around: they were the organizers I had missed. Excited, however, I explained to them in poor English that I was the winning coach. They let me go The Seoul Twenties have been brisk since the beginning. The main group and all the favorites in it - indoor world champion 1987 at 5000 m Shchennikov, his compatriot from the former Soviet Union Persian, world champion 1983 at 50 km Weigel from the GDR, European champion at the twentieth Spaniard Marín, Olympic winner 1980 and world champion 1987 Damilano from Italy, there were also three Czechoslovak pedestrians Pribilinec, Blažek and Mrázek. In the middle of 40:40 min, he signaled that he would not survive the Olympic record of Mexican Ernest Canto 1:23:13. The pace was escalating. At the 15th kilometer, eleven pedaled, among them Pribilinec with a four-leaf clover sewn on a jersey under the coat of arms and also Mrázek. Two kilometers later, Pribilinec dictated the hellish pace (3:38 min / km!). Only one opponent survived him: Ronald Weigel. Not a mile before the finish, the German boarded. "At that time, I was satisfied with silver in my mind for a moment," admitted Jozef Pribilinec. "But I quickly realized I couldn't give up and caught up with Weigel."Pribilinec entered the Olympic Stadium with a four-meter lead. "Now or never!" - as if Benčík's words sounded in his ears. Joseph not only kept his lead, but increased it. He made history as the first athletic Olympic champion from Slovakia.

Jozef Pribilinec: "Fifty meters before the finish, I knew I would win. Definitely not! I had a lot of experience, I knew all the pitfalls of walking. They could disqualify me, I could get cramped. I was alert until the last minute. I barely saw, I only had a black man in front of me, but I didn't let go. I don't know where I found strength in the last meters. I probably reached for the famous life reserve. "

The Seoul Twenty was weird. Nobody dared to guess who would come first. Even an expert like Juraj Benčík: "It was impossible to deduce from what was happening on the track who was better at it. However, I really wanted Jožo to win the gold at last. "

Pribilinec won the Olympic record 1:19:57 h, 3:16 min better than Cant's time from Los Angeles 1984. Weigel was three seconds behind him, Damilano was 17 seconds behind. 49 out of 53 pedestrians came to the finish line, on an excellent fifth place Roman Mrázek and Pavel Blažek's 15th place were out of the question. But the glory belonged to Pribilinec.