“Russians and Belarusians have not been able to participate in international competitions for the past fourteen months, the movement of people is restricted and thus monitoring by WADA,” Kučera mentions the World Anti-Doping Association, which monitors the cleanliness of competitions.
For example, Martin Vlach, as the current Czech number one, underwent eight anti-doping tests during that time. “Russians and Belarusians are not objectively tested, they do not have to provide information about their whereabouts, so if they were to return to competitions now, they would be irregular. And we’re not talking about the ethical and political dimension,” says the national team coach.
After all, Russia had big problems with doping in the past. Now, according to the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee, the international sports federations should allow the return of athletes from Russia and Belarus under predetermined conditions, which fencing has already given a nod to, for example.
“And you can see how their calendar is falling apart, when individual countries are canceling the organization of competitions. In the current situation, I can’t imagine that they would start at the European Games in Poland or that they would get visas for the World Championships in Bath, England,” says Kučera.
The modern pentathlon was quite close to Russia in the past, the vice president of the international federation was Vyacheslav Animov, and four years ago he received an award from the federation “for the development of the Olympic movement in Russia”.
Photo: Vít Šimánek, CTK
Coach of modern pentathletes Jakub Kučera.
“He is a close person of President Putin and in the closest management of CSKA, he is directly involved in the management of army sports. In modern pentathlon, the connection to the army and the police is generally tight,” Kučera reminds us that Russian athletes would not even be able to meet the IOC’s condition that they must not be part of the army.
Modern pentathlon, in addition to sporting and political issues, has been mainly dealing with its future in recent years. Jasna is so far ready for the Olympic Games in Paris next year. Already this year, there will be a fight for places at the World Championship, the European Games and the World Cup final.
“Given the strength of our men’s and women’s teams, our goal should not just be to qualify, but to try to win the games,” declared Kučera.
But the future is still in the stars, the pentathlon has not yet been approved for the Los Angeles 2028 games, it will be decided in the fall. “The international federation was pleased to have the opportunity to present a new discipline at youth and junior events and prove that it will be beneficial,” explains Kučera.
Parkour in the pentathlon program after the Games in Paris will replace obstacle course, the youth will already try it this year. But it is still not possible to train fully in the Czech Republic. “The track on which the race will be held has not yet been homologated in our country or in the world. If a competition is held where our best youngsters could try it out, it will certainly be a good training session,” says the coach.
Cooperation with the Czech Association of Obstacle Sports should bring additional preparation options. Due to the uncertain future, however, the pentathletes are still cautious with their plans for obstacle training. “If the IOC executive committee did not include the pentathlon in the Los Angeles program, there would be a lot of pressure from the federations and competitors, who are convinced that the decision to change was wrong. And I’m not convinced that there won’t be any further changes,” suspects the coach of the national team.
