European Games – sports shooting, June 23, 2023, Wrocław. Sports shooter Jiří Přívratský won bronze in the air rifle.
Krakow – Sports shooter Jiří Přívratský won bronze in the air rifle at the European Games in Krakow and took care of the second Czech medal after cyclist Iveta Miculyčová's gold in freestyle BMX on Thursday. Only the victorious Italian Danilo Sollazzo and the German Maximilian Ulbrich were better than the twenty-two-year-old Czech on the shooting range in Wroclaw.
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The winner of the qualification Přívratský was in the lead even before the last, fifth final series, but he scored only 51 points in it, which was his worst final performance. He scored a total of 260.6 points, nine tenths less than Ulbrich and six tenths less than Sollazzo. The Italian world runner-up from last year's championship in Cairo then won the duel for gold 17:9.
Eighteenth-ranked František Smetana lost 1.2 points to advance to the final. Even riflemen Lucie Brázdová and Aneta Brabcová did not advance from the qualification. Anna Miřejovská and Pavel Schejbal took sixth place in the mixed air pistol competition, and Veronika Schejbalová and Jindřich Dubovy took eleventh place.
This season, Přívratský celebrated success mainly in the three-position smallbore, in which he won two World Cup races. The latest bronze in the air rifle ranks high in the collection of achievements. “Probably among the highest I've ever achieved. Because so far for me it was a bronze medal from the European Championships, which happened to be here from Poland, from Wrocław last year. This is right next to it,” he said.
He dominated the qualification, but struggled with nervousness in the final. “It was significantly worse than before the qualification, especially in the final part of the final, I had to fight with it in order to manage somehow,” confided the shooter, who is also helped by an unconventional talisman. “I have such lucky shorts for this discipline. I started shooting with them gradually, I started to do well in them, so now I regularly take them to larger competitions, especially for air rifles. They have avocado on them, they are completely bright green, they bring me luck ,” revealed Přívratský.
With last year's fifth place in the air rifle at the World Cup, the Czech Republic earned a place at the Olympic Games in Paris 2024, where it can follow up on its first start under the five rings in Tokyo. In Wrocław, therefore, he could no longer fight for the Paris Games, and since both his defeaters had already filled the quota in the qualifying period, the fourth in the ranking, Martin Strempfl from Austria, rejoiced.
On Thursday, Přívratský took seventh place together with Brázdová in mixed teams. Brabcová and Smetana finished fourth in this Olympic discipline.
Martin Fuksa is in the final at the European Games
Canoeist Martin Fuksa advanced to the final of the European Games on the popular 500m. He won the heat in Krakow and can win his twelfth European title on Saturday. At this non-Olympic distance, he defends the gold from Munich, he has a total of seven continental trophies. The four-kayak team of Jakub Brabec, Radek Šlouf, Jakub Špicar and Jakub Zavřel took seventh place in the final of the 500m.
From the heat, the trio of canoeists progressed directly to the final. Fuksa, who finished fifth in the doubles with his brother Petr on Thursday, was the fastest of them. He beat home Wiktor Glazunow by more than three tenths.
The four-kayak did not quite get off to a good start in the final. “I felt in that boat that we were swaying. That could have played a role in the fact that the start was not as good as we can do it now,” said Zavřel. But then the Czech representatives got into a rhythm, even if they did not perform as well as when they finished fifth at the World Cup in Szeged in May. “I felt like it wasn't 100 percent smooth. In my head, in my feelings, like we had a little bit of a brake. Anyway, I think it's on the right track considering that we're training for the World Cup and this is not our peak, ” commented Šlouf's performance.
In the traditionally balanced four-kayak race, the Czechs were less than four-tenths away from a medal. “We are still in the pack, in the line that will be able to make it to the Olympics,” said Zavřel in the direction of the world championship, which is the only Olympic qualification for four kayakers.
He remained in the crew for the European Games benjamínek Brabec, who stood in for the sick Daniel Havel during the World Cup. “I was a lot less nervous at the celebrant, because I jumped in at the last minute. Now those nerves worked with me a little from the beginning,” he confided. It is not yet clear who will be in the crew for the WC.
In the afternoon semi-finals, after Fuks, other Czech representatives also won their way to the finals. Kayaker Anežka Paloudová was third, just like in the heat. Her colleague Špicar improved significantly after finishing sixth in the morning and dominated his semi-final.
Czech boxing number one Bernardová lost in the first round
Currently the best Czech amateur boxer Lenka Bernardová lost at the European Games , which are the main qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games in Paris 2024, in the very first round. The 22-year-old European vice-champion from last year was not enough in Krakow in the weight category up to 60 kg against Agnes Alexiusson from Sweden, with whom she lost 0:5 on points.
In addition to the 22-year-old Czech representative, the tournament also ended today for Vladimír Trakal, who in the category up to 57 kg, he also lost on points to Artur Bazejan from Armenia.
In Poland, Miloš Bartl will also appear in the ring today, who will fight Miroslav Ischenko Kapuler from Israel in the category up to 71 kg in the early evening block .
