Matěj Krsek: Olympics in Paris and a new personal record on the world stage
About the sports journey from the Stade de France to distance learning. Matěj Krsek talked about how to combine elite athletics with a university education in IT.
Olympic Stadium. Stade de France. 80,000 capacity. Didn't your knees shake when you made your first Olympic start in Paris?
When they brought us into the stadium, I went right to the blocks. That's when I started looking around and my mind went, "This is it, this is the Olympics." I wasn't nervous, but rather grateful, determined and excited.
Do you remember anything from the first run? Does the athlete have a chance to take in the surroundings and atmosphere?
I remember very little from the first run, but I will probably never forget the second one. It's hard to describe, but it was a really powerful experience. I experienced something that only a person who has been working on something for 12 years can experience, and it works out in the end.
You finished last in the heat race, was it a big disappointment for you or more of an encouragement?
I had somewhat conflicting emotions. I wasn't disappointed, but I wasn't excited either. Even though I finished last, I didn't run a bad time for my standards. But I was aiming higher.
Then came the corrections. You didn't secure your place in those either, but you improved your time significantly and set a personal best. You must have been very happy with that performance?
Yes, I was. I didn't come to Paris to win. My only ambition was to break my personal best. I was and still am very satisfied with that result.
You're studying software development. Why did you choose it? Were you skilled in IT in high school, or is it simply a field in which you see strong potential?
I love solving problems, creating new things and I've always been close to IT, so when the opportunity to study it online was an obvious choice.
It looks like you've got your future lined up beyond your career as an athlete, but hopefully there are still a few years to go until that point. What is your dream, what else would you like to accomplish as an athlete?
I would like to break the Czech record in the 400m, and then I would like to pass on my experience to the younger ones in some way. Either as a coach or maybe as a creator of a sports blog. But I hope that's still a long way in the future.
