Renew: 09/07/2022 12:09 pm
Issued by: 07/09/2022, 10:36

Prague – 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.

“For Zámecký vrch, I will be handicapped at number two. The health of the offspring I hope for must be the most important thing for me at this time. 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.

Even though he is no longer a top athlete, he doesn’t want to give up exercising. “Sport has been with me all my life. Ever since I joined the first swimming team at the age of six. Of course, it will continue to be a part of my life, and I will lead my children to sports. Now I don’t have to, but I want to. I want to be fit, healthy,” he said.

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.

Overall, he will remember his career only in good terms. And he believes that his sporting experience will be beneficial for his future life as well. “I’ll definitely have a lot of friends. I’ll be disciplined. I’ll have the fact that I’m always pursuing my goals, and I’m willing to keep pursuing them, whatever the field,” he said.

Apart from being a mother, she will be busy taking care of the chocolate praline shop, which she opened at the start of her holiday in Hradec Králové. He was inspired by the successful former triathlete Martin Krňávek and his wife, who run three shops with these sweets in Brno. “They were kind of my mentor and they kind of trained me into it. The opportunity came and I took it,” he said. He will also complete his studies in sports diplomacy which is supported by the Czech Olympic Committee.

It was difficult for the association’s chairman, Antonín Bauer, to say goodbye to longtime supporters of the Czech triathlon team. “Vendy is unique, he’s amazing, he’s professional in every way. He’s irreplaceable in one way. But someone can come who will also perform and will bring the excitement we’ve always been waiting for during the Vendula show in a different way,” he said.

The most promising of the current top Czech players is Petra Kuříková, who has benefited from this year’s transition to renowned Australian coach Brett Sutton. In July, he won the World Cup race in Pontevedra. “He finally knows what real training is. Like me, he trains in a foreign group. If he continues to work hard, we can look forward to even better results in the next two years. It’s about hard work, it’s an endurance sport. , you can’t conjure it. Those hours have to be spent on training. And at the highest level, it’s all about the head, everyone trains pretty much the same,” Frintová said of the 30-year-old triathlete, who is currently recovering. from a shoulder injury after a fall in the cycling part of the European Championships.

Frintová . triathlon career