February 18, 2024, 10:32 am
The second day of competition culminated in the men’s and women’s indoor championships of the Czech Republic. Sunday’s program in Ostrava offered two championship records by Lady Vondrová and Daniel Kotyza.
Lada Vondrová indicated her rising form towards HMS already during yesterday’s run, which she managed in 51.91. In the final, however, she wanted to start the race significantly faster, which she also succeeded in, and for her fifth indoor title at this distance, she sprinted in a new championship record of 51.41. She reduced her personal best from 2020 by 41 hundredths. At the same time, she also improved her career high by 16 hundredths. Tereza Petržilková, who won the silver medal, also did well, when she lowered her time under 52 seconds for the first time in her indoor career. The value of her new personal data is 51.88, for which she ranks seventh in the Czech historical tables. The new junior national record brought bronze joy to Terezia Táborská. With a time of 52.93, she was two hundredths faster than Lada Vondrová in 2018.
Top quality was also expected from the men’s 400m final. Vít Müller was the fastest on the run, but in the second circuit Matěj Krsek overtook him and crossed the finish line as the winner in a new personal record of 45.86, becoming only the second Czech quarter-runner, after Pavlov Maslák, who managed to run an indoor quarter under 46 seconds. Matěj was among the successful defenders of the gold, and his joy could be doubled, as he conquered the sharp limit for the start at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow. The silver-winning Vít Müller was also able to celebrate a new career high, as he improved his personal statistics by one hundredth to 46.21. After four years, bronze Michal Desenský returned to the podium in 46.42. Černý Petr was left to Pavle Maslák, who was fourth in a time of 46.78.
The new championship record was set in the men’s 8-stroke, and Filip Šnejdr had a big part in it, as he basically did the whole race when he set a very fast pace from the start. However, Daniel Kotyza, who also defended the gold from last year’s championship, had the fastest finish. The clock at the finish showed him 1:46.57, which is the value of a new championship record. He improved Lukáš Hodboda’s two-year-old time by 53 hundredths. With a new career high, Daniel has already moved up to fourth place in the Czech history tables in the hall. Jan Tesař ran a great 1:47.59. Filip Šnejdr took bronze in 1:48.13.
In the pole vaulting sector, an even duel between Zdeňko Lubenský’s wards was expected. Matěj Ščerba and David Holý shared the top of the current national tables. In the end, however, this fight was unexpectedly unequivocal. Defending champion David Holý did not have his day and only managed his chosen base height of 525 centimeters. Even so, this performance was enough for him to win silver. In contrast, after two years, Matěj Ščerba was able to rejoice not only about the title, but also about a new personal record of 565 centimeters, with which he currently shares the sixth place in the historical national charts with, among others, his coach Zdenek Lubenský. The bronze was shared by Filip Bartoněk and Jiří Novotný. Both jumped 525 centimeters and had the same record.
The final of the women’s half was won by the youngest competitor at the start. The winner of last year’s European Youth Olympic Festival, Adéla Holubová, joined her more experienced rivals in the run-up to the last circuit and was clearly the fastest in it. She decorated her first adult title with a new junior national record of 2:04.27. She lowered her personal best by more than two seconds. However, it was not the only record-breaking feat she performed. She also became a junior national record holder. Here she erased Andrea Šuldesová and her performance of 2:05.82 from 1994 from the top of the historical charts. The fight for silver was decided by thousandths. They finally decided in favor of Kimberley Ficenec over Pavla Štoudková. Both competitors crossed the finish line in 2:05.14. Ficenec thus defended the valuable metal from last year, and last year’s champion Štoudková, who dragged out a significant part of the race, had to settle for bronze.
The men’s 200m had several favorites for the gold, and Tomáš Němejc coped best with this role, who flew one circuit in a new personal record of 20.82 and thus won his first championship title under the roof. Defender Ondřej Macík was only a hundredth slower. Even for him, the time of 20.83 is a new personal best. Michal Novák’s protégé thus completed his medal collection from the indoor national championships. Jan Jirka (20.95) will take the bronze from Ostrava, for whom it is the eighth valuable metal from the indoor MČR.
In the final of the women’s 200, the young competitors played first. Lourdes winner Gloria Manuel had a successful speed test and won her first adult championship in 23.72, just nine hundredths behind her own junior national record. The national historical maximum was also shaken in the junior category, as the silver medalist Johanka Šafářová lost only one hundredth of a second to it with a time of 23.75. The second bronze at this championship was won by Pavla Kvasničková (24.00).
In the absence of Jan Štefela, the fight for the high altitude title was noticeably more open, which was also confirmed in the sector. Josef Adámek and Marek Bahník cleared the bar with a value of 214 centimeters. However, Adamek needed one less attempt to do so, and that earned him the first indoor gold from the MČR. Bahník did not add a fourth title and had to settle for silver. Adam Tomášek from Olomouc takes the bronze for 210.
Katrin Brzyszkowská, the leader of the Czech tables, confirmed her role as the main favorite in the ball competition. She won her second indoor title with a clear performance of 16.58. Martina Mazurová, the silver medalist, came just three centimeters closer to the sixteen-meter mark. Bronze Eliška Zahradníčková then conquered the fifteen-meter mark for the first time in her career (15.04).
Radek Juška has been dominating domestic championships for many years. This year, however, his primacy was not so sovereign. Although he won his ninth indoor title with a performance of 772 centimeters, Petr Meindlschmid, the winner of last year’s European Youth Olympic Festival, who repeated the silver from a year ago with 768, was right on his heels. Bronze was won by another youth talent, Tomas Järvinen, with a performance of 751 centimeters.
For a medal in the women’s distance, it was necessary to jump six meters. In the balanced fight for the title, Tereza Vokálova was the most successful, who moved the value of this year’s best Czech performance to 618 centimeters and added the most valuable metal after yesterday’s bronze in the hurdles. Linda Suchá climbed to the silver step with 615, and this way she got a bit of an appetite after the unsuccessful triple jump on Saturday. Yesterday’s triple jump champion Emma Maštalířová won the bronze with a performance of 604 centimeters.
Simona Vrzalová won the prized running double at this year’s indoor championships. After yesterday’s triumph in the triple, she did not find a conqueror even in the 1500 meter race, which she won in 4:21.83. Diana Mezuliáníková, another returning mother, finished in 4:23.69 for silver. The bronze medalist Pavla Štoudková was also among the multiple medalists from this MČR, who followed up on the same valuable metal from the eight and fifteen, in a time of 4:27.62.
Nico Boketta was the sovereign ruler of the men’s 1500m. He didn’t give his rivals even the slightest chance and finished in a completely dominant style for his first championship title in 3:48.78. The battle for the next podium places was much more dramatic. The junior national record holder Filip Toul was the best, who hung the silver medal around his neck in 3:53.27. The bronze step was occupied by Dominik Vebr (3:53.46).
The entire championship program was traditionally closed by the 4×200 meter relays. In the men’s race, the fastest fighters from VSK were Univerzita Brno (1:26.92), ahead of Vítkovice (1:27.81) and Kladno (1:27.83). Among the women, the sprinters from USK Praha (1:38.62), followed by athletes from Tábor (1:40.08) and Škodovka from Pilsen (1:40.45), confirmed their role as favorites.
