Announcement of Retirement from Speed Skating.
I was in the Speed Skating since my 14. In the Czech team I won Junior world champion title and competed at two Olympics. After the games in Sochi, I was not satisfied with my results and started to ask myself, what to do ? I am a sprinter and in CZE there not any specialized Sprint training structure. it never was and will never be. Their attemtps to change me on a endurance rider weren´t successful as well. so, I had to change something, I decided to move to the Netherlands, where Speed Skating has huge traditions and local coaches have enormous experiences, so I started to skate there.
I arrived to a country, where speed skating has a incredible specifical system and organization. Teams works there like the Cycling teams, financed from non-public sources. But our sport works on National Teams bases. so as a foreigner in a commercial team you´ll never have the same status as a dutch native athlete, even if you have very high level of performances.
It was a interesting 4 years, basically I took my skates, a bag and came there. I had to use all money I had, sell my car, live here and there. Learn a new language and just believe in my choice. I had 20 and I had great ambitions. I am used to work hard and go for my goals until the end, when time passed I became a part of the best world sprinters, which resulted in my Olympic medal and 2nd overall rank in World Cup.
My departure from the Czech system, had anyway very negative reactions in the Czech Speed Skating federation and the national coach Petr Novák. their attacks escalated unfortunately because of my successes also to my private life. I was often attacked by series of personal insults, they presented me to my friends, sponsors and the public medias as a traitor, ungrateful person and someone for whom the "czech way" is not good enough. All this troubled me for years. I love my country and I am a patriot, even if this word sounds like from the revolt times. I am from the Krkonoše mountains and I have my heart well placed for our mountains, and the chance to represent my country was always for me a question of pride and honor.
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