In terms of achievements, the Games were XXXIII. Olympics in Paris disappointing for Slovak sport. The SR expedition had 28 athletes, only one won a medal.
Photo: TASR, Martin Baumann
Vanesa Hocková (left) and Danka Barteková took care of a Slovak Olympic unique by participating in the final together. Unfortunately, it did not result in a medal.
No one joined the bronze medalist Matej Beňuš (water slalom C1), more was expected especially from shooters. According to the general secretary of the Slovak Olympic and Sports Committee (SOŠV), Jozef Liba, it is necessary to find a solution in the long term.
Despite the poor medal balance, several Slovak athletes impressed with their performances. Anna Karolína Schmiedlová took the fourth place in the women’s tennis singles, and water slalom skier Zuzana Paňková (C1) and shooter Vanesa Hocková (skeet) were in the same position.
Another Slovak skater, Danka Barteková, also won the final, taking sixth place, and skateboarder Richard Tury also created a sensation.
He advanced in the street category as the only one from Europe to the finals and took fifth place. All of them, except for the bronze Olympian Barteková, made their debut under five rings.
“I personally think that our results were good considering the possibilities. It often happened that there was very little to convert the fourth places to that medal. The athletes did what they could.
Viktória Forsterová had a season’s maximum in the 100-meter run, and Gabriela Gajanová broke the long-standing Slovak record in the 800-meter run,” said expedition leader Roman Buček.
More was expected from the shooters. Patrik Jány was in good form before the Olympics, and after the world record from the previous Olympics and a dominant triumph in the trap, the eyes of the fans were focused on Zuzana Rehák Štefečeková.
But the final participation eluded both of them. “I’m a little sorry for the results in the shooting, where we had the highest ambitions,” confirmed Buček.
Twenty-seven-year-old Jány can improve his appetite for the Olympics in Los Angeles 2028, but the future of brocaders Barteková and Rehák Štefečeková is questionable.
“If I were to go to another Olympics, it will no longer be automatically expected that if I already have a ticket, it already means that I will bring a medal,” said the Slovak Trappist.
Barteková was even more specific: “I love my sport, I love going to training every day. However, I know what it costs to win every single target. I am not a person who is extremely talented, I have worked hard for everything and for 26 years I have been shooting range.
It’s enough for the Olympic final and I have to evaluate myself whether I want to enter those waters again and toil like a horse for four years. It’s more or less about whether it will be enough for me and how I will review it.
However, I certainly wouldn’t want to give up my sport, even in other positions as an athlete. Everything is open, I will definitely be in Los Angeles as a member of the IOC.”
Even wrestler Tajmuraz Salkazanov did not succeed in his first start at the Olympic Games. He did not claim victory in two fights, he was also among the medal hopes.
“After the first loss, I thought I would be stronger. But it can’t be done in a day. I analyze the matches and the entire tournament. I was at the Olympics for the first time, but I wasn’t stressed, I was prepared physically and mentally.”
The 28-year-old wrestler will have the opportunity to make amends next year, when the European Championships will be held in Bratislava. “It will be a challenge for me, but not only for me, but for the whole of Slovak wrestling.”
The only medal for Slovakia thanks to Beňuš was a confirmation of success in the water slalom. The thirty-six-year-old canoeist continued with the bronze in the Slovak tradition of water slalom skiers, who brought the valuable metal from every Olympic Games in the era of independence. Overall, it was the sixteenth medal and the fourth bronze (8–4–4).
“It was definitely not the ride of a lifetime, it’s hard to evaluate, it also depends on the track, the temperature and the pressure at the Olympics. Paris was fantastic because France is a rowing country and they made a boiler here,” said Beňuš.
According to Lib, more things must be done to improve the situation in Slovakia. The General Secretary of the SOŠV pointed out that playing sports should be a natural choice for children and youth.
“Because sport is slowly becoming something that we perceive in Slovakia only very, very peripherally. We will have to prepare a meeting with the individual associations with the Ministry of Tourism and Sports and look for ways to prepare not only for the Olympic Games and for the Olympic cycle in the autumn to Los Angeles, but also towards Brisbane.
Short-term solutions are not exactly what would help us. We need to look for a solution in the long term. Not to mention the state of winter sports in Slovakia.”
Source: sportweb.pravda.sk
