“We’re going full speed, even if we have to change our training plans every week!”

Like most other athletes, the Czech Nordic Combined national team is competing not only with demanding training volumes, but also with the pitfalls of various coronavirus restrictions. Marek Šablatura, the national team coach, specifies how they manage this situation and how the season is being prepared.

How would you describe the current condition of your team?

Marek Sablatura: I’ll put it like this: Thursday, July 23, was the first day after the end of the winter season that the complete national team trained was able to train together.

What was the cause of these absences?

Sablatura: As usual, there were various diseases and injuries. At the beginning of January, Lukáš Daňek was diagnosed by doctors with the EBV virus, which is a disease that is difficult to get rid of, and it is not possible to exercise with it. After a few months, we resumed the preparation, but in two weeks the virus values ​​were back. Now Lukáš is slowly trying to return, he was jumping on the hill in Planica last week and we believe that his health problems will finally be resolved.

For a change, it was Jan Vytrval who had a fall on his bike at the beginning of May, in which he stepped on his knee and damaged his ligaments. He rehabilitated for a long time, but he gradually improved his condition, and he also completed a successful jumping session at Ještěd.

Did all this bad luck at least avo the two best Czech national team athletes from last season - Tomáš Portyk and Ondřej Pažout?

Sablatura: Well, also for them, the process wasn't completely smooth. Ondra Pažout also had problems with his knee, so he could not run. The important thing is that he can at least ride a bike and roller skis. We were also worried about Tomáš Portyk, because he showed similar blood values ​​as Lukáš Daňek, but fortunately everything was fine a week after the control test.

After the season ended, you announced that you would include talented juniors in joint training camps this year - did they get the opportunity?

Sablatura: Yes, we decided to link the senior category more with our best juniors, Jan Šimek, Lukáš Kohlberger and Petr Šablatura. They complete at least one jumping training camp with the "A" team per month. Paradoxically, the situation around coronavirus allowed them to train even more with the best guys.

Polish Nordic Combined athlete Szczepan Kupczak is training with your team this year - how is that going?

Sablatura: Before the start of the training, Adam Malysz contacted me by phone asking us to take Szczepan to our team. At first we were a little surprised, but then we agreed. Kupczak is one of the best ski jumpers in Nordic Combined, so he can also contribute to increasing the performance of our boys.

When did you and your charges start preparing for the 2020/2021 season?

Sablatura: Due to coronavirus, last season was shortened, so we used this space in training to gain a certain strength and running volume. After the Corona virus hit, the boys prepared individually according to Skype instructions.

In addition, due to the closure of the border, our new jumping assistant coach Robert Mateja could not come to see the team from Poland. When the situation eased again, we also visited individual competitors at home with our assistant Vláďa Šmíd.

In June, we went abroad for the first time - instead of the closed Breitenberg in Germany, we had to go to Hinzenbach, Austria. After a short vacation, which Tomáš Portyk spent by the sea, Ondra Pažout in Slovenia by the lakes where he conquered Triglav, and Honza Vytrval with his girlfriend on bikes, we had a training camp again in Eisenerz, Austria. We focused mainly on the jumping part.

In the second half of July, a test week awaited us in Liberec - a lactate curve, a functional examination on a special facility in Jablonec, which was offered to us by the biathletes, and a jumping session on Ještěd and a running challenge on Ještěd.

The team was also expected to start in a prestigious challenge called the Tiger Summer Challenge in the run to Ještěd - how did they do?

Sablatura: Great! The competition with the Czech biathlon skiers and hockey players of the White Tigers, Liberec was won by Honza Vytrval in 9:18 min. He didn't give Michal Krčmář or the others a chance.

The implementation team underwent an interesting reinforcement in the spring - Polish coach Robert Matej, whose task is to improve the jump for the competitors. How do you work with him?

Sablatura: I chose Robert as a collaborator myself at the beginning of January this year. I knew what I was getting into, we discussed everything many times together. However, starting the co-operation was really difficult due to the Coronavirus. We started mostly on the phone and skype. Robert fell in with us very quickly, the boys took to him and responded positively to his instructions and advice.

Our goal in the new season is to show stable and better jumps than in previous years. At the same time, Robert brought a lot of help in the field of material development, which I had to devote myself to before - especially the suits and their final modification. He also applies new elements in the framework of strength training.

In the context of the global health situation, are you worried about what awaits Nordic Combined in the slowly approaching new season?

Sablatura:  I'm worried, but we're still going full speed, even though we have to change our training plans and places of stay practically every week. We anticipated that the summer association season would be more or less lost, but it was not our goal.

We are aiming for the new season to start on schedule, but we expect further complications. We can only hope that the health situation will calm down and gradually everything will return to normal.