You can also listen to the interview in the audio version.
Hockey players from the NHL are to appear at the Olympics for the first time since 2014. Everything is agreed, signed, fine-tuned. One detail is missing. There is no place to play yet.
The hall for the tournament in Milan is not ready. The overseas league admitted for the first time, through the mouth of deputy commissioner Bill Daly, that if the arena does not have adequate standards, the position on the release of hockey players may be reconsidered.
Martin Doktor, in his role as head of the Czech Olympic expedition, has already experienced hectic moments before the start of the Games several times.
For example, at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro 2016, it looked like the event was to be held a year from now. The beginning rarely goes completely smoothly.
That’s why the former top canoeist remains calm: “I trust the Italians that they can do it.” They had already convinced him that they could handle it when the deadline was burning.
Is the situation in Italy so different from other Olympics?
Again, not significantly. The most intensively addressed hockey hall in Milan is now. Players from the NHL will come to the Olympics, so everything has to be top-notch. The individual federations do not have enough information to be sure that everything will be completed in time.
Did you get anything more detailed?
Not either. But as I know Italians, they are able to do many things very quickly. There is supposed to be a construction site around the hall, which is not a surprise, the organizers announced this from the beginning. It is worse when there is no information directly from the hall, what it looks like. From the outside, it looks like you could play in it just fine.
But the inside is a question mark.
Just. Therefore, the organizers will allow us to look inside and see the dressing rooms and other spaces, which was not possible until now. A two-hour inspection is expected to take place on December 12, when people from national federations and national Olympic committees will be let in. Of course, we will also send someone from us there. I can’t imagine not being able to make it to the arena.
Photo: Profimedia.cz
Since 2013, Martin Doktor has been the sports director of the Czech Olympic Committee. He is regularly in charge of sending athletes to the Olympics.
But with how slowly construction continues, pessimism is quite appropriate, isn’t it?
They can do it, but it will be more difficult that the hall will probably open without test matches. If you only go hard in Olympic mode, it’s not good, because mistakes only appear at that moment.
When the hockey federations went to see the hall for the last time, the Italians unrolled a screen for them a kilometer from the hall, where they projected what the building would look like. Do you really expect the tour to actually happen on December 12th?
I hope nothing like this happens again. They promised to let people into the locker rooms. I expected it to be a bit more difficult here. So not exactly Brazilian, because at the Rio Games things were not done at five past twelve, but fifteen minutes past twelve. Only a few difficulties could be expected.
In Brazil, a velodrome went through a similar scene as a hockey hall. The company went bankrupt, a new one was chosen, the track was completed just before the Olympics, but also without a test. I remember…
…if it was only a velodrome. There were enormous problems even in the Olympic village, where it was not possible to live at all at the start of the Olympics.
There were things like water flowing where it shouldn’t have. There was mold or holes in the walls and the electrical wiring was visible in the shower.
Why do you actually trust the Italians to finish the hall?
They convinced me with the bobsleigh, sled and skeleton track. They were able to put it together very quickly, which is quite a large structure. In March 2024, we saw felled trees on the site, a year later there was a trough where tests were taking place. In many places in Italy we have to expect a construction site, that’s just the way it is.
Yes, the Italian media regularly discuss what was planned to be completed and where the infrastructure has not even started.
It is often not even directly related to the Olympics. There is a lot of construction going on in Italy now, hotels and other buildings are being built that have no connection with the Olympics. This is exactly the situation of the hockey arena. The development project will continue in the coming years. But of course, the condition of the hall inside is key for us. At previous events, everything always worked out. I can’t imagine that the Italians would wear such a shame on a shirt. The whole world is waiting for a tournament with NHL players, and then the hall would not be ready.
The NHL is already starting to threaten that if it is not done, it will withdraw the participation of the players. I expect that if there are problems on December 12th, the pressure from overseas will increase significantly. what about you
Also. In short, the Italians have to convince everyone that everything will be fine. Of course, there must be pressure on them. But as a result, plan B is not. They drive to make it.
All the more so when the second hall is only a temporary building for the Games themselves.
This is the space on the fairgrounds where the hall for hockey was built. It is small, it has such a low ceiling that not even a cube would fit inside. It is a multifunctional space that has been converted into an ice rink. In the same way, there is a track for speed skating next door. A few months ago there was a car show here, after the Olympics the ice rink and track will disappear again. But in the end, this is not a bad solution. It’s better than leaving buildings on the site that no one uses. Only everything must have the appropriate parameters. You know what also fills me with optimism?
The International Ice Hockey Federation has its technical experts on site. If they did not believe that the hall would be completed, we would probably hear a sharper warning from them.
You already tapped the Summer Olympics in Brazil in 2016. Was it the biggest punk you’ve ever experienced from the point of view of the head of the expedition?
It was punk mainly from the point of view that it was not a finished village for athletes. The problem was that they weren’t good enough to do a bigger load with more people. Fatal things popped up, such as the place being uninhabitable.
Australia even left the village. What did you solve?
Out of the forty-five apartments that we were supposed to get, they gave us seventeen of them. The rest was being done as we went along. It was very challenging because we had to move the rooms, transfer the athletes back and forth. There were things like water flowing where it shouldn’t have. There was mold or holes in the walls and the electrical wiring was visible in the shower. In the end, everything worked out.
Because it probably won’t get any worse, do you believe the Italians?
I think the Italians have one advantage, they are capable of improvisation and work under pressure. If, for example, it happened in Japan that they didn’t have things on time and in order, I would take it as a bigger problem. I believe they will give the hall.
