- Editor
Hlaváč won his fourth indoor walking title in a row
On Sunday, February 9.2th, male and female walkers competed in the Olympos Hall in Prague for this year's first championship medals. The walkers traditionally shared the hall with the multi-sport athletes. Unfortunately, despite the request of the head coach Nedvídek to establish a penalty zone, this was not granted, and it was a great shame, especially for the youth categories. Hopefully, the head coach will be adamant next time and will break through the rigid system that is having a hard time getting used to changes.
The female students were the first to start their race. Of the 17 athletes who entered, TD eliminated 5 girls, 10 walkers finally took to the start. Initially, Maredová from Jižní Město set the pace, but after two laps, the favorites from the Frýdek-Místek training group took the lead, followed by Hrochová from Dobruška, and the four quickly broke away from the rest of the starting field. Fusová, still a younger student from Opava, set out to chase the group, but as her strength ran out, her technique deteriorated and the competitor saw the red target. She broke away from the leading group 6 laps before the finish line Krasulová and surprisingly quickly gained a lead over only 2 rivals, the favorite of the race Bell-shaped and the surprise of the day Hippopotamus. Krasulová won in a new personal record of 16:45.52. Zvonková's silver medal also goes to coach Nejezchleb's group, and bronze goes to Dobruška thanks to Hrochová.
Of the 6 registered students, 5 walkers were selected, but in the end only 4 were at the start. The main favorite took the lead from the start White z Duchcova, who managed to reach 15:22 in the fall. This time he didn't even come close to this performance, he came away with a comfortable victory, narrowly beating the best student by a distance with a performance of 16:39.87. He finished for the vice-champion title Buns z SK Yesenin's and bronze is in Holešova drove away Then Saddler, but already in a time well over 18 minutes.
Of the 11 juniors, 9 girls qualified. From the beginning, she left no one in doubt about her qualities. Eliska Říhová z Frydek and went fearlessly for the championship title. With a time of 15:15.87, she was 20 seconds behind OR from the Ostrava hall, but her victory was very convincing. She tried to keep up with her one-year-younger sister for the first kilometer. Noemi Mayans z Kadaň, but then she slowed down and managed to secure silver with a time of 15:49.01. She then won bronze in the new OR Petrushkova, also from Frýdek - 16:12.06. One walker was disqualified.
The 3 m races were concluded with a joint start for juniors and women. Of the Czech elite, only Ema Klimentova. Unfortunately, Martínková is still recovering from her injury from Paris and Franklová did not start due to illness. Ďurdiaková is preparing for the new season in South Africa and did not start at the Czech Championships again. Klimentová went fearlessly forward and with a concentrated performance often in the second lane she reached the time of 13:30.53 and her first title in the women's category. She held the second place very clearly in her hands Bugarova z Pilsen. She already showed her first performance under 15 minutes (14:45) in the Ostrava hall this year and was the only candidate for silver out of the five registered (only 4 competitors entered). She can be satisfied with another performance under 15 minutes - 14:50.94. Another competitor from Pilsen came third in the entire race Bakliková, but in the second half she lost strength and her technique deteriorated. In particular, she was bending one knee less and less, which did not escape the judges' eyes and soon 2 red targets appeared on the board. The competitor did not rejoice in the bronze finish for long, because soon the third proposal also arrived in the hands of the referee and the experienced one hung the bronze around her neck Špetánka Sex Curly z Hradec.
She dominated the junior competition Eliska Kokořová z Frydek (16:16.15), who was losing and gaining some meters on Pohlová Kučerová. In the new OR she managed to get the silver Oxygen ze Spartacus Prague 4 (16:21.26) and with almost a minute's delay she came in third Group ze Sternberk.
The teenagers have already walked 5m together with the juniors. The junior race lasted more than a kilometer. Novak z Frydek, but it was subsequently snatched away by four clever teenagers Mochal - Rösler - A tin can - Svoboda.
Last year's student Svoboda obviously had the strength to give, but he didn't keep his technique in check and together with Vejvančický from Rumburk, both were soon eliminated. The leading trio claimed the lead, Plecháček gradually began to fall away. 900 m before the finish he attacked Liberec Mochal and won the youth title with a convincing performance of 23:27.25. 15 seconds back he remained silver Mladá Boleslav Rösler. Bronze Turnov A tin can then lost almost a minute - 24:38.27.
Among the three juniors he went Novak purely for sure, the performance of 24:16.72 cannot be taken otherwise. The competitor can run 10 km in 46 minutes and so the failure to use the joint race with the juniors to achieve a faster time is disappointing. The silver and bronze were taken by two other competitors at the start, Hradec Králové Arnošt and Glosser.
The championship race day was rounded off by the much-anticipated men's race. And there was plenty to watch. Out of the 11 registered, 10 athletes took to the start line, and five of them were in the running for medals. The defending champion took the lead from the first meters. Vit Head man, who kept the pace for a final time of just under 20 minutes. However, he carried a group of pursuers on his back in order Moravian - Bunny - Gdula. The youngest walker at the start, last year's junior, went with a loss from the beginning Puppet and it was clear that he did not like the warm hall and the race was not enjoyable. After less than 2 km of the race, Morávek started to lose slightly and the Zajíček - Gdula pair gradually gained on him. After about 3 km, Gdula dropped out of the medal fight, but he also had a very successful race, especially considering that he had just returned from a training camp in Melago, Italy, with Hlaváč the day before.
Morávek fought and tried to catch up with the leader Hlaváč. Kladno Vit Head man However, he watched the race with experience, managed to resist Morávka's pressure and at the finish line, in addition to another title, he could rejoice in a new OR of 19:50.00 (OR by 5 seconds). He also got under the 20 minute mark for the first time. Jaromir Moravek from Pilsen, who was only 1.75 seconds behind Hlaváč. He won the bronze medal Porubian Adam Bunny in 20:25.09. One competitor was disqualified, one race did not finish and Uher from Novoměstsk won by half a minute (23:40.54). The best Czech men put on a really nice show, it was also pleasing to see a very good technical performance, especially Morávek, who had struggled with technique in the past, surprised us very positively with his performance and was perhaps the best technically in the entire starting field. Zajíček also recorded a great improvement. The performances of the first 4 in particular are a promise for the spring season and we all firmly believe that when Kukla absorbs the increased mileage after moving to the adult category, he will also shoot for further improvement. He definitely has potential. 5 quality walking men are a promise for the Poděbrady nomination, when teams could perhaps be fielded for 20 and 35 km at the home European Championships. We will see what the spring races bring, the indoor test definitely tempted us in the men's category.
The hall again confirmed lower participation and interest in walking in the boys' categories. The low participation in the women's category is disappointing. Overall, however, walkers confirmed that walking belongs in the hall. The indoor speed test is successfully behind us and we wish all athletes, whether starting in the hall or not, quality preparation towards the spring competitions.
- Editor
The year 2025 is slowly starting and the first walking races, such as the US 35 km championship, have already taken place. Most walkers are in full preparation for the next season, the last one on the 20 and 35 km routes.
The representative selections and nomination criteria for representative events were published on the ČAS website during December.
Czech Athletics divides competitors into the TOP group (the amount of funds drawn up to 750 CZK), representative selection A (amount for preparation up to 000 CZK) and representative selection B (competitors included here are not allocated specific amounts by ČAS, but they can participate in paid preparation camps within the section). The representation is then divided into senior, U200, U000 and U23. The walking section lost its own representative coach last year, walking falls under the running representation and management of Jan Pernica, the subsection chief is still Kateřina Čermáková.
Details of the financial security of the representation can be found here: FINANCIAL SECURITY OF REPRESENTATION
We are publishing this primarily because in the past, many athletes were confused about what their inclusion in specific groups actually meant.
Last year, the elite group “TOP” included Eliska Martínková, unfortunately, she did not defend her position in this group and was included in group A for 2025. Eliška started 2024 with a great personal best at 20 km (1:30:07), qualified for the European Championships and the Olympic Games, and set a national record at 10 km. However, this is not enough to remain in the elite group of Czech athletes. Although 11th place at the European Championships was gratifying, after technical difficulties in Antalya it was 11th place with a penalty and confirmation of persistent technical problems. At the Olympic Games, she finished 27th in the individual competition and Eliška, who was struggling with an injury, withdrew from the relay race. The competitor is back in training and has already spent December, together with Franklová, gaining kilometers in the traditional Canaries.
The “TOP” group for last year also included Tereza Ďurdiaková, who excelled at the World Championships in Budapest 2023. Since then, Tereza has been struggling, she has been missing races and it was evident that she is fighting mainly with her own head. At the beginning of the 2024 season in Turkey, she did not finish again and did not appear on the race tracks in 2024 due to alleged health problems. The announced start in December in Dublin did not take place and the only registered start is 10 km in Třebíč in a below-average 54:48. Even in the Czech Republic, this is enough to be included in group A... It is okay that Tereza remains in the selection team, an athlete should not be written off after one season. However, inclusion in group B and cooperation with the rest of the national team would be much fairer. Already during the year, Tereza broke up with coach Piták and is working with coaches in Brno. Tereza wants to strive to participate in Tokyo, but the task will truly be Sisyphean.
Group A among seniors is completed by Vit Head man. He has had a very successful year, after a long time he showed a big improvement on the 20 km course (repeatedly sub 1:24:00), broke the national record in the 10m walk, qualified for the European Championships, started in the relay at the Olympics, where he was in great form, unfortunately the Czech team did not finish the race. Vítek has already completed a December training camp in the heat of the Canary Islands, where he gained kilometers, for example, with Lukas Gdula.
Five Czech walkers fall into Group A of U23 athletes. They left the junior category Albert Puppet, Ema Klimentova a Elisabeth Franklova and together with senior colleagues Jaromir Moravian a Adam Bunny will gain experience on the 20 km track. Jarda Morávek, after a year-long, not very successful experiment with “The Malys” decided on another coaching change and is preparing for the new season under the wings Catherine's Cermakové, in December he trained in South Africa with the Slovak group of coaches Benčík and cooperation with the best Slovak walker Černý can be of great benefit to him. The other athletes remain with their coaches, Ketner family are traditionally preparing in the Tatras, Franklová attended a camp in the Canaries together with Martínková, while Klimentová was preparing for victory at the New Year's Eve Hall not only at Prague's Ladronka. And as it was clear, Ema is fine even in the cold Ladronka.
The only U 20 representative was included in the B selection. Vojtech Novak from Frýdek - Místek, who copied Albert Kukla's path from 2024 with this year's improvement and we will look forward to seeing whether he confirms his improvement, especially at the European Championships in Poděbrady.
She was then included among the talented and watched youngsters under 18, aspirants for national team jerseys in the future. Noemi Mayans a Eliska Říhová and four boys - Then Mochal, A tin can Ondrej, Rösler Marek a Svoboda Hynek.
In 2025, Czech walkers will face a number of national events. Only the pair Hlaváč - Martínková have a realistic chance of qualifying for the World Championships. Few believe in Ďurdiaková's return, but Tereza can surprise and may shine in Poděbrady. However, even for Hlaváč, getting to Tokyo will be difficult.
He will need 2 quality XNUMXs and must arrive in Dudince perfectly prepared. The same goes for Tereza.
The main event from the perspective of a Czech fan will be the European Team Walking Championships in Poděbrady. The limits are not strict for representatives and meeting them should be a formality. Whether someone from the foursome Hloch - Gdula - Nedvídek - Pšenička will try to get closer to the limit, for example, 35 km (2:50:00) is a question, it would be possible to build at least a complete men's team with a little good will. There are enough followers, it would be nice to see more Czech jerseys in the race.
Nomination requirements here: ME WALKING TEAM PODEBRADY 2025
The U23 European Championships in Bergen, Norway, brings something new for 2025. From the 10s, athletes are returning to the stadium and to the 000m distance. The limits should be achievable for all five representatives, the trio of Kukla - Morávek - Zajíček could exhaust the maximum quota of athletes for the discipline. The limit of 42:15 / 41:45 on the track is certainly within their capabilities. Klimentová already showed a time of 47:45/47:15 last year, Franklová is close to this time.
For the youth EYOF, the time limits are 25:00 for girls and 22:30 for boys. Mochal is 16 seconds behind, Říhová is 46 seconds behind. One Czech representative will definitely be at this event. He received an invitation to the judging and accepted the nomination Marchtin Goodbye.
Another representative event will be the Universiade in Bochum, Germany. Martínková brought home a silver medal from the last Universiade, and we would like all our students to try to imitate her. The distance at the Universiade is 20 km and the required times are around 1:33:00 or 1:24:00.
The first big test of Czech walkers and their state of preparation will be the indoor championship on February 9.2th in Prague. Indoor starts are possible this weekend in Ostrava or Jablonec, another option is the 4th indoor Wednesday in Jablonec and then the aforementioned Czech championship.
We wish all Czech walkers good health and quality preparation.
