Kupczak convinces at Czech nationals, titles to Portyk, Koldovska and Sablatura

After a one-year break, Tomáš Portyk became the old and new summer national champion of the Czech Republic in Nordic Combined. The championships took place in Lomnice nad Popelkou and Jilemnice on Saturday, October 3, under strict hygienic measures. Jan Vytrval took the silver position and last year's defending champion Ondřej Pažout finished third. However, the overall winner of the competition was the guest of the Polish Ski Association, Szczepan Kupczak.

The K70 hill in the V Popelkách complex in Lomnice nad Popelkou is perfectly protected from wind, so that strong gusts did not hit the championship participants at all. On the contrary, the beautiful warm weather created a pleasant backdrop. The complete home team was on start, completed by the leading Polish athlete Szczepan Kupczak, who has been preparing for the season with the Czech team since the spring.

With a 72 m long attempt, Kupczak settled at the top of the jumping result list with a lead of 24 seconds over last year's defending champion Ondřej Pažout, who landed on the 70 m mark. The intermediate third position belonged to Tomáš Portyk, a native of Lomnice, with 69.5 m (+28 s).

In the junior women’s category, Tereza Koldovská confirmed her role as the favourite with a performance of 52.5 m.

Among the juniors on the bridge, the pair of Petr Sablatura and Jiri Konvalinka dominated and recorded the same distance - 66.5 m. The most successful Czech junior in the last season, Jan Šimek, did not do well in the jump and 61 m pushed him to fifth place with a loss of one minute.

For the roller ski race, the actors moved to the Hraběnka complex in nearby Jilemnice.

The short racing distances (5 km for men and male juniors, 4 km for all other categories) did not offer too many opportunities for fundamental changes in the race.

A good shape was demonstrated by the Kupczak, who circled the start-finish system at the head, although his lead decreased. Behind him, on the second kilometer, the three Czech representatives Pažout, Portyk, Vytrval came together. However, Tomáš Portyk took a sharp step in the ascent on the third kilometer, tore up the group and escaped his opponents.

Jan Šimek fought among the juniors in the run, but he could no longer threaten the sovereign winner Petr Šablatura. The reputation of the best  junior woman was confirmed by Tereza Koldovská.

"Of course I'm happy with winning the title, but I can't say I'm extra satisfied with my performance”, Tomas Portyk said after the event. “It's still not happening for me in the jumping part. In training or a test round, I succeed in my attempts, they are relaxed but I can't repeat them in the competition. It is probably in my psyche. I really want it, and that ties me down. Fortunately, there will be time to work on it. I was preparing to attack in the run, and when I saw that the boys had left a small hole behind me, I went up the hill as fast as I could and then just kept the lead. I also wanted to catch up with Szczepan, I would probably be able to do it in a 10 km race a but 5 km are short," he commented on his performance.

"We did not prepare in any special way for the summer championships. The important thing was that the boys finally raced again after a long time, even though they only jumped on a small jumping hill. The order was decided by their current performance. Tomáš Portyk's victory is well deserved, he has improved in recent weeks and has a good run, "said national team coach Marek Šablatura.

The representatives are now sure that they will travel to Poland for a four-day training. The plan is to also go to Ramsau (AUT) and ski on the Dachstein. Three pre-season preparatory camps in the Finnish resorts of Rovaniemi, Ruka and Vuokatti have also been confirmed. All, of course, provided that the current epidemiological situation allows.

Results

Men: 1. Kupczak (Pol.) 12:27,7 min, 2. Portyk +16,4 s, 3, Vytrval +33,2, 4. Pažout (všichni Dukla Liberec) +38,3, 5. Gryczuk (Pol.) +3:58,4 min, 6. M. Čejchan (oba LSK Lomnice nad Popelkou) +5:37,1.
Junior M: 1. P. Šablatura 12:51,4 min, 2. Šimek (oba Dukla Liberec) +1:07,3 min, 3. Konvalinka (Ski klub Karrachov) +1:16,1, 4. Kohlberger +1:48,0, 5. Sudek +2:14,8, 6. Bernat (všichni Dukla Liberec) +2:27,9.
Junior W: 1. Koldovská (Ski klub Harrachov) 14:05,9 min, 2. Hradilová (Nové Město na Moravě) +36,5 s.
Youth: 1. Doležal 14:14, 2 min, 2. John (oba BKL Machov) +18,5 s, 3. Balatka (JKL Desná) +3:07,4.
Students: 1. Hrdina (LSK Lomnice nad Popelkou) 13:16,6 min, 2. Hnyk (Ski klub Harrachov) +1:51,2 min, 3. Stolarz (Ještěd Liberec) +1:56,6.