This winter, the long-established practice, when in the most modern athletic hall in Prague, representatives from other resort centers could also train alongside the athletes of Olymp. Czech TV and Sport newspaper drew attention to it. The decision was made by the new director of Olymp Michal Volf, who assumed the position last summer. He argues that he is only strictly following the previously set rules, according to which the hall should primarily serve the athletes of Olympus. He claims that its capacity would not be enough for all athletic representatives. Unlike previous years, Dukla athletes now have limited access to the hall. USK athletes, including Staněk, do not have access at all.
The union has discussed this with Olymp several times. “In November, negotiations between head coach Pavel Sluka and director Volf took place. We received a definitive opinion from the departmental center at the beginning of January, when our request for representatives to enter the hall in Stromovce was rejected,” said Varhaník.
The management of Czech athletics did not succeed even with the offer of financial compensation for the entry of the representatives. But he does not want to accept the situation. “Currently, other negotiations are taking place, in which I personally participated intensively, and I also informed the chairman of the National Sports Agency (which coordinates the activities of the departmental centers). I believe that common sense will prevail and that we will come to an agreement with the departmental sports center of the Ministry of the Interior days so that Czech representatives can enter the athletics hall in Stromovka,” said Varhaník.
Among other things, he is troubled by the situation of the ball player Staňko, who does not have optimal conditions for preparation a few weeks before the attempt to defend the gold from Toruń. He can train in the pressurized hall of the USK in Strahov, but there is a different type of circle than is used in elite competitions. “It is unacceptable to me that he cannot go to at least three special throwing training sessions in the hall in Stromovka, where the modern ring is the same as the one that will be at the European Championships in Istanbul. But this also applies to other Czech representatives. I believe in the agreement with departmental sports center of the Ministry of the Interior in the shortest possible time,” said the chairman of the union.
Athletes of USK Prague, which, in addition to Staňko from the leading Czech representatives, also includes quarterback Lada Vondrová, may have problems with training even in the outdoor season. Since the end of last year, they have not been able to use the dilapidated Evžen Rošický stadium. Its closure was decided by the Football Association of the Czech Republic (FAČR), which is its owner, based on the opinion of an independent expert. “We see a replacement for the athletes in a small stadium (the stadium next to the pressurized hall in Strahov). We are in long-term negotiations with the Ministry of Education, the capital city of Prague and the athletics department of USK Prague so that a four-hundred-meter artificial athletics track can be built on this site as soon as possible. ” said Organist.
