The Prague Post
December 2nd, 2008
Endowment Fund     Business Listings ONLINE      Reservations      Classifieds    Subscriptions

Home » Archives » Sports

Cinderella story

19-year-old Czech becomes queen of the speed-skating world and criticizes her country's resources

By František Bouc
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
February 21st, 2007 issue

ČTK
Speed skater Martina Sáblíková says she would consider leaving the Czech Republic to compete for a different country if training conditions don't improve in her sport.
When speed skater Martina Sáblíková entered a hotel apartment on a visit to Prague in late January, she could not believe her eyes.
“It was big room, with two plasma screens,” she recalls. “I could not understand why I was suddenly being so pampered.”
At age 19, Sáblíková has turned into the Cinderella of Czech winter sports since becoming the youngest European champion in Collalbo, Italy, last month — and this despite shoddy training facilities in the Czech Republic that have forced her to train on a slip-and-slide mat in her living room.
She shocked all by coming from behind to beat Dutch Olympic gold medalist Ireene Wüst. Ranked second behind Wüst after three events, Sáblíková needed to win the final 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) race, and she needed to do it by at least 14 seconds.
She won with a 14.23-second lead.
“I could not understand how it happened,” Sáblíková said. “The difference was not even 1 meter [3.3 feet]. I did not believe that this could happen. It was like a fairy tale.”
Modest star
Sáblíková’s Cinderella story seems tailor-made.
Unlike her opponents, Sáblíková cannot practice at any proper speed-skating rink at home because there is no such arena in the Czech Republic. As a result, Sáblíková has to train on frozen lakes and on plastic mats in her parents’ house.
Given the low profile of speed skating here, the European champion could not even rely on any major financial backing until recently. During the European Championship in Collalbo, Sáblíková had to share a wooden cabin with her coach, Petr Novák, and teammate Andrea Jirků. The cabin had no hot water.
“Our opponents were staying in hotel rooms worth about 100 euros [$131/2,822 Kč] per head per night,” Novák said. “We had much worse conditions, but it cost us only 15 euros per head. We could not afford to spend much more.”
Her stunning success at the championship put Sáblíková into the spotlight and helped her to win the first major sponsorship. A week later, she signed a deal with engineering company Metrostav. The young speed skater will receive nearly 5 million Kč ($232,000) per season, which should help finance her preparation.
“It’s a lot of money,” she said. “I’ll leave my coach to manage it; otherwise, my head would start spinning.”
Before leaving for the Feb. 4 World Cup race in Turin, Italy, where she became the first Czech to ever win the race, Sáblíková did not feel comfortable with the attention, nor with staying in five-star hotels in Prague’s downtown.
“I just don’t feel like a star,” she said.
Aiming for the world record
While modest in person, Sáblíková has been very outspoken about the miserable conditions Czech speed skaters face.
“I must rely merely on frozen lakes here,” she said. “If I had the chance to practice on artificial ice indoors throughout the entire season, I could do better.”
After last year’s Winter Olympics in Turin, where she earned recognition for the first time by finishing fourth in the women’s 5-kilometer race, Sáblíková declared her next goal was to win medals at the next Winter Games in Vancouver in 2010.
Should her ambitions be thwarted by a lack of resources, Sáblíková said she would change her citizenship and compete for another country where she can enjoy better training conditions.
“To be able to further develop, I’ll need travel subsidies to train abroad or a speed-skating arena needs to be built here,” she said.
Her parents took out loans to help finance her travels abroad while training. Sáblíková’s mother, Eva, said she didn’t travel to Turin to see her daughter compete in order to save money for future training at camps abroad.
Czech Olympic Committee Chairman Milan Jirásek lobbied then-Education and Sports Minister Petra Buzková for a new speed-skating arena during the Turin Games. Although Buzková promised to support the project, there has been no progress on construction.
Still, Sáblíková’s recent success could provide the incentive to build one.
Sports management company Sport Invest, which works as an agent for star athletes, has added Sáblíková to its stable and also announced it is ready to participate in building the new facility.
“We’d like to make speed skating a major sport in this country,” Sport Invest executive David Trávníček said.
Sáblíková is determined to attract further attention to speed skating. She openly declares that she aims to set a new world record in the 5-kilometer race at the upcoming World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships in Salt Lake City, Utah, March 8–11.
“I’ll do it, and I’m looking forward to doing it,” Sáblíková said enthusiastically.

František Bouc can be reached at fbouc@praguepost.com


Other articles in Sports (21/02/2007):

Browse the Current Issue

If you enjoyed this article, why don't you subscribe to the print version!
We accept secure online transactions provided by PayPal and Moneybookers

Be the first to add a comment!


Full Name: *
City: *
E-mail: **
This comment can be published in the print version of The Prague Post
Enter the text on the right:
 visual captcha
Comment: *
* Required field. In order to be approved for display, comments must have a first and last name and a city.
** E-mails are required and will only be used for internal purposes.

Most visited in Business Listings

Hotel booking
The Prague Post Online contains a selection of articles that have been printed in
The Prague Post, a weekly newspaper published in the Czech Republic.
To subscribe to the print paper, click here.
Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.