Illustration photo – Judist Lukáš Krpálek (pictured on January 18, 2023).
Prague – Two-time Olympic champion in judo Lukáš Krpálek has spent several weeks preparing for the World Championship, which he entered after recovering from an injury from the February tournament in Paris. He was preparing for the World Championship in Georgia and Japan, he told Czech Television today.
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At the World Championships, after eight years, Krpálek will start again in the category under 100 kilograms, where he returned at the beginning of this season. He immediately won bronze at the Grand Prix in Portugal, but then in the second round of the Paris Grand Slam with Belgian Tom Nikiforov, he fell on his shoulder and injured his collarbone. “I've been recovering for a month and a half,” said the two-time world champion.
Then he and coach Petr Lacina planned preparation with the center of gravity abroad, as they did before the coronavirus pandemic. “I was in Tbilisi for a week, Japan for a fortnight, now I will be in Prague for a fortnight and then fly to Qatar,” explained Krpálek.
It is important for him to get practice on the tatami, at least with sparring partners during training. “A person must be prepared in terms of strength, fitness, technique and judicious training. I finished the rough strength training in March, then I returned to the kimono, when I needed to convert it into speed and break down. The last fortnight will only be speed, dynamism, ” Krpálek explained the proven strategy.
His category is scheduled for May 12 at the world championship. “I will be satisfied if I perform optimally, which is what I would like. It will be a very difficult path to a medal, there are a lot of good judokas,” he added.
Last year's World Championships, where he still competed in the heaviest weight category, he failed. He was stopped by the Korean Kim Min-chong in the fight for the quarter-finals. For the first time since 2010, he did not make it to the top eight at the World Championships. His performance was also affected by injuries, due to which he only trained fully for two months at the WC.
