Czech triathlete Vendula Frintová ended his professional career at the age of 39. The four-time Summer Olympics participant is pregnant.
Therefore, Frintová will not be competing this weekend in the World Cup in Karlovy Vary, which he dominated in 2018 and 2019.
“I’m going to be handicapped by number two for Zámecký vrch. The health of the descent I hope for has to be the most important thing for me right now. That’s why I won’t be at the start,” he said, referring to the challenging climb in the cycling section.
He has many pleasant memories associated with Karlovy Vary. He won his first medal here in 2003, when he was a member of the gold team at the European Championships.
Then he succeeded in the European Cup race and raised the West Bohemian race to the world level. She hoped until the very last moment that she would successfully start, but she didn’t want to take the risk because of her pregnancy.
Because of that, he didn’t finish the farewell race at the highest level. His last start was last year’s European Championship in Valencia, where he finished ninth. He has not raced this season.
“Just before the first race of the World Series in Yokohama, my Achilles, who I’ve worked with for most of my career, started getting sick. Then there were some organizational irregularities and I couldn’t race. Before the European Championships, I felt great, but the soles of my feet were inflamed and I had to go out. I didn’t know I was pregnant yet,” she explains the changes that prevented her from starting.
The Náchod native has won in the elite series four times. In addition to two domestic victories, he won victories at Australian Mooloolaba (2010) and Spanish Huelva (2017). He won four medals at the European Championships.
In his debut at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, he finished in 23rd position. His best appearance was 15th in London four years later. He finished 27th in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, but did not finish the race in last year’s match in Tokyo.
“Fifteenth place at the Olympics wasn’t bad, but I should have been even higher. I never managed to race in the Olympics, whether it was because of the weather or health,” he recalls.
“Certified bacon geek. Evil social media fanatic. Music practitioner. Communicator.”