Ski Classics race in long-distance skiing Jizerská Padesátka, February 12, 2023 in Bedřichov na Jabloneck. In the photo, runner Kateřina Neumannová.
Prague – Olympic champion from Turin Kateřina Neumannová has a racing heart even at the threshold of fifty. With the start number on the chest, he cannot drive with restraint. It was also shown during Sunday's Jizerské fifty, which she completed for the first time in her life. Due to the necessary commitment, she does not yet know whether she will return to the main race in Bedřichov, said ČTK.
Advertisement'; }
Neumannová joined the recreational cross-country skiers and set out on the track from the second wave. In the end, with a time of just over three hours, she placed at the beginning of the third hundred out of 4,800 participants. “As soon as I have the starting number, I can't ride like a fly. I put myself under pressure to live up to the fact that I used to run quite fast on those skis. I don't go quite at one hundred percent, but I do at ninety, ” she described her approach.
During the Jizerské 50, she did not linger unnecessarily at the refreshment stations and even skipped the final one. “I drove it maybe too fast there. I cut it a bit, ran over a few people's skis,” she commented apologetically.
Just like Marcialonga's fiftieth year, she gave herself the Jizera fiftieth as a slightly premature present for her fiftieth birthday, which she will have on Wednesday. She wanted to prepare for her more than she managed in the end. “There was no snow. I skied for two weekends in December, none at all in January. So I tried to run more on my own, but I have a bit of a problem with my heel. The last two or three weeks I forced myself to go for a run during the week, otherwise I mainly do sports on weekends in Šumava,” said the two-time world champion.
The day after a demanding race, he does not engage in any major movement. “I was limping a little in the morning. I'm a little sore. The aches and pains that you carry from the time of an active career are more pronounced. Today it's not about jogging, I'm more like crawling,” she said. Its advanced age can be seen in the regeneration. “I can see that if it's a weekend in Šumava and I go on a longer ski trip on Saturday and Sunday, it's worse on Sunday than on Saturday. Moreover, it's a completely different training now,” she said.
< p>She is employed at the sports department at Dukla, where, in addition to operational matters, she deals with communication with the Czech Olympic Committee and the National Sports Agency. “I'm glad that I was once given the opportunity to stay with sports and I'm still there. It's nice, the possibilities are not unlimited. There are certainly fewer such places than former athletes who would be interested in them,” she appreciated.
< p>He usually spends weekends in a boarding house in Šumava, which he takes care of as a manager. As a native of Písek, she describes herself as a proud South Bohemian. “I live in Prague, but it's not that I have any special relationship with her. I found myself here by coincidence, mainly for work. I'm not sure I'll stay here,” she said.
She is not planning a big 50th celebration . More like just meeting different groups of people she would like to see. “I didn't feel like doing any lavish parties, I don't like them,” she said. He has no problem with logs. “Fifty doesn't bother me at all. I don't experience it, I don't feel that anything has changed since last year. Maybe I'm lazier and less organized, I'm not so strict with myself,” she added.
