The (un)expectedly trimmed Czech line-up for the EC of walking teams!!! The Poděbrady European Championship in walking teams behind the door.

In less than 14 days, the Czech walking Mecca will host the EC of walking teams. The nominations of Czech male and female athletes were also published.

For those of us who will be on the track as part of our organizational duties, I apologize in advance that we will not be cheering. Unfortunately, we cannot turn a blind eye to the rules, we must not cheer. In spirit, however, we wish everyone an easy and technically perfect step, and the best possible performances!

The ČAS nomination requirements were as follows:

Men Discipline Women

1:28:00       20km walk     1:40:00

2:53:00       35km walk     3:10:00

Men U23 Discipline Women

1:30:00       20km walk     1:40:00

2:58:00       35km walk     3:18.00

Juniors Discipline Junior girls

46:00          10km walk       52:00

At the end of the nomination period (1.10.2022/7.5.2023/6 - 3/4/XNUMX), only XNUMX competitors met the criteria. Points XNUMX and XNUMX of the ČAS Nomination Conditions gave the teams a chance to fulfill the letter of the pedestrian team competition:

3. TR ČAS will propose the nomination of competitors for the possible start of the team, without achieving the ČAS performance requirements for an individual race, provided that they approach the listed performance requirements and consider the possibility of evaluation in the team competition.

4. The representative coach of the pedestrian section will propose a TR ČAS nomination based on the position in the interim tables in the ČAS qualification period, as well as taking into account the needs of the team.

Unfortunately, what most of the non-chosen suspected has become a reality. The additional nomination was won by a single competitor, and in most competitions on the domestic scene, our representation will remain outside the team competition!!!

So who will finally start the race for the Czech Republic:

The race day will begin at 7:30 a.m. with the start of the men's and women's 35km race:

He will compete for the Czech Republic among men Vit Hlaváč, who has a sufficient position in the ranking for the WC in Budapest (44th place out of 50 possible starters), but he lacks the confirming performance of ČAS (2:36:00). He struggled in the race in Dudince and came up short for the championship title in a lackluster performance (2:43:43). The goal for the EC in Poděbrady is more or less clear, however, Vítek has been struggling with a sore hamstring since returning from the training camp in South Africa, and it is a question whether he will be in sufficient condition to meet the limit.

Unfortunately, no one met the other nomination criteria, and even when he offered to close his eyes and put the pair Nedvídek - Gdula at the start of the race, so that the whole team would start, it did not happen. Although the boys would fight from the back positions, however, given how the nomination criteria for Paris have developed, the 35km race will certainly be less crowded and the chance for a solid team placement would be there without a doubt. All the fans will thus push to the finish line of the one and only Vítek.

He completes 35 km in Czech colors and Tereza Ďurdiaková. The initial start in Dudince was more than unsuccessful, the time 3:13:53 is far beyond the limit for the WC and the criteria for the start in Poděbrady. Tereza, however, rightly got the opportunity to start, with her performance in previous years, she simply belongs at the home European Championship.  However, there is a bit of an aftertaste in her nomination. In 2021, when the 35 km course was run for the first time and top performances were still ahead, she performed Štěpánka Pohlová-Kučerová performance 3:13:43, i.e. a time 10 seconds faster than Tereza's performance this year. However, she did not get the opportunity to start at that time, because her performance was not found to be sufficient for ME. We won't have the chance to see the Czech team this year either, but we will see the Czech jersey in the starting lineup and we all wish Terce that her health problems are a thing of the past and with a clear head she can fight for the confirming performance of the ČAS for the WC in Budapest (3:00:00, currently Tereza is 42 /50). 

The performances of the other Czech women are far from the nomination criteria, the team could only be formed if we chose the strategy "nomination at home = motivation for the future and for young people".

At 11:40 a.m., the women will line up for the start of the 20km race:

The Czech team will again be represented only in the individual competition, and that by the clear Czech number one Eliška Martínková. In the corridors, there is talk of a great performance that Eliška is planning and hopefully it will work out for the competitor. So far, Eliška has only met the limit for "ME22", confirming the performance of ČAS for Budapest (1:32:00) is a clear priority, meeting the sharp limit (1:29:20 - 25/50) would be a real shock. Eliška in Poděbrady can do it, last year she took everyone's breath away by meeting the limit for the WC in Oregon, this year we are expecting completely different temperature conditions. Eliška was preparing for the season in the heat of Colombia, so hopefully the race in May weather won't surprise her.

If other Czech women take part in the start, it will only be in the framework of the "Permit meeting". No one came even remotely close to the nomination requirements, and the chance of placing teams in the reality of Czech walking never even existed.

At 14:10 p.m., men will also complete the 20 km course:

Here we will have 2 representatives at the start. Last year still youth Adam Zajíček - Jaromír Morávek they met the criterion of their age category by significantly improving their personal records and in Poděbrady they will fight for another OR and above all the limits for ME22. Both of them are definitely up to it.

However, for the team, at least 3 racers must be fielded in the race, and this did not happen in this case either. Yes, the other men are far from the performance requirements, but not putting the third so-called in the number here is surprising. If the competitors were flying to compete somewhere beyond the arctic circle, this decision would be the right one. However, this race is on home soil, literally behind the Prague threshing floor. It is possible to build someone from the trio of Nedvídek - Kolář - Gdula (ordered according to this year's performance)., because this domestic EC is a team competition. The individual competition is very prestigious, but secondary. In addition, at least the pair Nedvídek - Kolář will still be at the start as part of the Permit meeting, and it is thus a wasted opportunity to build a team at minimal costs (the competitors would certainly not insist on paying for the travel ticket, after all, it did not take place last year either...). Most likely, we can also expect junior Kukla at the start, who could do a great interim official "ten" most probably at the level of 45 minutes and then finish it at a walking pace so that his performance is counted in the tables.

At 16:10 p.m., the juniors will start the 10 km race:

Unfortunately, we will look for the Czech jersey in vain in this race. The Orwellian "We are all equal, some are more equal" characterization of this race is suggested. The only one who was able to come close to the criteria for the start within point 3 of the nomination requirements was Albert Kukla. This competitor has improved by more than 4 minutes since last year and in Satalice he showed a time of only 12 seconds behind the nomination requirement, when he always improved by minutes in every race of the season. However, he did not get the opportunity to start in the national jersey, which is in huge contrast with the nomination of Terka Ďurdiaková (Terka, you belong at the start, but so does Albert). In correlation with Tereza's performance in Dudince, Albert's time in Olomouc should be enough. Especially in the youth categories, choosing the strategy "you don't have a limit = you don't go" is difficult to understand, the race is at home and motivation and gaining experience should be a priority in the case of a domestic competition. However, it is probably better to have no one at the start than an athlete from the wrong training group, although this one can realistically attack the 45-minute mark on a fast track.

The last race of the day will be the girls' junior 17km competition at 25:10:

And it will be an enjoyable race for us. In the junior race, 2 competitors are enough for the team competition, so this race will be the only one where we will participate in the team competition. They met the criteria for the start Ema Klimentová and Alžběta Franklová. For both competitors, the main goal will most likely be to break the 50-minute limit, especially Ema Klimentová, on the fast track in Poděbrady, she could also try to reach the limit for the EC in Jerusalem, where she already visited last year at the start of the EC 17.

Looking at the nomination of the Czech team, we can say in advance that the championship in Poděbrady is a clear failure for the Czech colors. The only team at the start is undoubtedly a fiasco of the Czech athletics national team, and even the partial successes of individuals cannot change this. The name of the competition clearly states what it is about. After ME 2021, where we could be comforted by the success of Eliška Martínková, when the Czech Republic won two medals thanks to her, this is another missed opportunity.

The "Walking Vision 2020" presented a few years ago must therefore be regarded as a completely unsuccessful project. Improving communication in Czech walking, improving the quality of the youth base and improving the performance of the wider Czech elite, all of this remained unfulfilled. Czech walking is still about individuals and if you are not popular in the team, don't expect a national team jersey. For me personally, this is the biggest disappointment.