Czech skiing has been waiting for a talent such as fourteen-year-old Natali Anna Machytková for several years. Machytková completely mastered downhill skiing at the Children’s and Youth Olympics, which took place in the Giant Mountains this January. This was a test of strength at the level of the Czech Republic, but Natali also confirmed her performance on the international stage when she won the slalom at the prestigious school race in Abeton, Italy, in the spring. And she was second in the giant slalom.
“The competitions in Abeton are a measure of performance at the international level for the category of junior and senior pupils. Not the only one, but an important indicator,” said Jiří Matějů, the head of coaching education of the Skiers’ Association of the Czech Republic (SLČR), about this success of the young Czech competitor, adding: “Natka will now be riding older students for the first year, she is only fourteen. The critical and often decisive period will actually come in two years, but it is evident that he has great talent.”
Machytková is very physically mature for her age, which gives her an advantage in competitions with children of the same age. At the end of the winter, she competed at the prestigious races in Whistler with rivals two and three years older and showed her potential in Canada as well. She had to give her all, take a lot of risks, which resulted in frequent breakdowns. But when she looked at the finish line, it was worth it. In the second round of the slalom, she set the fastest time of all in Whistler.
Sports talent of 2023
Photo: Jakub Čaja, Seznam Zpravy, AI visualization
Sports talent of 2023.
Seznam Zprávy is once again looking for the Czech Republic’s greatest sporting hopes. Watch the Sports Talent of the Year series. Together with the experts, we present to you eight extremely gifted athletes who excel in tennis, football, ice hockey, downhill skiing, rugby, volleyball, athletics and badminton. And last but not least, a gifted computer game player.
The Czech Republic has already made an indelible mark in the history of downhill skiing, and it can be said that it is very successful in a sport that is otherwise dominated by Alpine countries. It may be a bold statement, but it is true. Two women are mainly to blame for this – Šárka Záhrobská, now married Strachová, and Ester Ledecká.
Šárka Strachová won a complete set of medals at the world championships (even bronze twice), she was also on the podium at the Olympic Games in Vancouver, where she won third place. For a long time it was a unique balance even on a global scale. Ester Ledecká then entered the history of skiing and Olympic sports by winning gold in skiing (super-G) and snowboarding (parallel GS) at the Olympics in Pyeongchang (2018).
Czechs can surprise
Approaching the successes achieved by these two skiers, while Ledecká is still competing and one can believe that the best on skis may be yet to come, will be extremely difficult for anyone who turns on ski bindings in the Czech Republic. And it is no great surprise that economic reasons are primarily to blame.
“Ski training in the summer and autumn months has become very difficult to access in recent years due to the warming and loss of European glaciers. Alternatives are being sought in the southern hemisphere, in Australia or New Zealand, but these are all very expensive and almost unaffordable options for the average competitor,” says Jan Fiedler, sports director of the Section of Alpine Disciplines of the SLČR.
Countries like Austria or Switzerland have many times larger budgets and, in addition to essential things, they can afford to deal with small details that help them succeed. “For example, they bring weather stations with them to speed events,” Fiedler says with a smile. Nevertheless, the experienced coach believes that talents like Šárka and Ester will appear here again. “With the diligence and enormous commitment of their implementation team, they are then able to compete with the best or even surpass the skiing powerhouses.”
Photo: Jitka Toušlová, Seznam Zpravy
Garmisch, World Cup 2010 final, the Czechs sensationally won the team competition. How symbolic! Guess who is sitting on Šárka Strachová’s lap?
Exceptional stories will remain exceptional
Not only the achievements, but also the stories of the best Czech female skiers are exceptional. Many like to point out their individualism, family teams raising top athletes independent of the system represented by the ski association. But as Jiří Matějů says, the reality is a little different. Yes, Petr Záhrobský, Šárka’s father and coach since childhood, was a phenomenon whose work, extreme in every sense, brought historic successes to Czech skiing. Trying to copy his path makes no sense today.
“Individualization of training from the age of 15 is common and desirable in a sport such as downhill skiing. However, an irreplaceable role is still played by the very well-functioning ski clubs, which, thanks to the enthusiasm of the people and the erudition of the coaches, ensure a year-round sports program and participate in the education of skiers, starting with the smallest ones,” says Matějů. And he is convinced that mainly thanks to this work, downhill skiing in the youth categories still maintains a very good base from which talented individuals can be selected and later prepared for racing in the junior category.
“A meaningful continuation of a sports career in adolescence is to link sports with studies, for example by creating sports classes focusing on downhill skiing, which will be one of the association’s priorities in the coming years,” adds Jiří Matějů.
Although it may not be so readable, as the media likes to emphasize the unusual in success stories, Ester Ledecká, from the point of view of a national coach, basically went through the standard path of a promising skier training in the ski section and within the selections of the given age category under the supervision of national coaches. “But it had a significant superstructure, i.e. primarily in the fact that they lived in Spindle and she was on the hill every day. She gave and still gives everything to skiing, snowboarding and sports. In addition, Ester is a sports all-rounder, she has great movement skills. Yes, she also had private trainers, but other young competitors also had and still have that,” points out Jiří Matějů. According to him, Ester Ledecká’s exceptionality is due to a mix of favorable conditions, hard work and talent. “It’s certainly not evidence of the need to grow in a small, system-independent team.”
Her skis were in the cradle
The path of Natali Anna Machytková so far is not dissimilar to that of the Olympic champion Ledecká. She also trains in Špindlerův Mlýn, where she is coached by Zdeněk Kříž as part of the Sports Academy. Around the respected fitness coach, a team of athletes representing several sports branches is being formed with the support of entrepreneur Marek Dospiva’s Penta investment group. And Natali Anna Machytková is part of it.
“Without Penta’s financial and material support, we could no longer manage it. The older Natálka is, the more expensive her preparation is. And downhill skiing is unfortunately a very expensive sport,” says her mother Jitka Machytková. She also raced in the past, later switched to coaching and has been by far the most involved in her daughter’s skiing progress.
Photo: Josef Štěpán, Seznam Správy
Natali Anna Machytková in the giant slalom.
Natali Anna’s father is respected serviceman Miloš Machytka, most recently a member of the team of one of the world’s best slalom skiers, Katharina Liensbergerová. By the way, Machytka is signed to the many successes of Šárka Strachová, and he also prepared skis for the gold Olympic race of Ester Ledecké.
However, one of the most experienced professionals in Czech skiing says modestly: “My daughter grew up skiing mainly with her mother, she clearly has the greatest credit for what Natálka has achieved to this day.” Štefan Hadalin) understandably spends winters abroad.
However, she keeps a good overview of how Natali Anna prepares to enter top skiing. “Apart from mom, Zdeněk Kříž will also train Natka at the Sports Academy, but she also trains with other people. For example, Honza Řehák alias Piškot goes free skiing with her,” mentions Machytka, a ski instructor and coach who oversaw Ester Ledecká’s first turns in Špindl years ago. As you can see, the Czech skiing world is not big and the paths that lead to success in it are actually well known.
Who selected the greatest talent of Czech downhill skiing
Jiří Matějů from the position of youth methodologist of the Section of Alpine Disciplines of the SLČR cooperates with coaches across all categories, from preparation to national team. He is the head of the SLČR AD Pupils’ Coaching Council and the head of the SLČR AD Youth Commission, which is an all-Union advisory body for youth skiing.
1st class certified trainer, lecturer of the Association of Professional Skiing Teachers, director of the ski and snowboard school SkiResort Černá hora – PEC in Pec pod Sněžkou.
After the holidays, Natali Anna will only go to the ninth grade of primary school, but her mother Jitka Machytková already knows that regular school attendance will be a problem. “In Špindl, we managed to arrange an individual plan, which is normally difficult, in fact impossible at a primary school. It’s just that ski training takes place in the morning, there’s nothing you can do about that,” he explains.
He knows that children abroad have more support and better conditions in this regard. “We have some contacts abroad, someone has already taken this path. It’s one of the possibilities,” he thinks. A qualified and successful coach would probably not be rejected by ski clubs in Austria or Italy. “Or in Canada. Naty was excited about Canada, the conditions for racing skiing there are of course great. She sees it quite clearly, studying and, of course, skiing abroad is part of her plan.” Now she will spend one more year at the base in Špindl, training at the Sports Academy. “And what will happen after that remains to be seen,” concluded Jitka Machytková, thinking about her daughter’s further skiing development.
2023-08-12 06:00:26
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