Hurajt is looking forward to the role of an ambassador
The IBU Youth and Junior World Championships Biathlon 2019 Osrblie, which will take place from 26th January 2019 to 3rd February 2019, are approaching slowly but certainly. The members of the Slovak national teams are striving to be prepared best so as to be in the result lists as high as possible.
Beside the actual trainers of the young boy and girl members of the national teams, also two ambassadors of the event – Olympic medallists – Pavol Hurajt and Anastasia Kuzminová will be helpful. Especially the first mentioned – owner of the bronze medal from OWG Vancouver 2010 in the Mass Start competition – has just remembered himself on his junior times, when he didn´t act as a biathlete: “I have absolved the Junior World Championships as a ski runner. I have changed to biathlon ca as a twenty-year old man. I know that my JWCH were in Switzerland in St. Moritz and I have achieved the twentieth or thirtieth place roughly,” showed Hurajt his excellent memory.
“YJWCH are such a graduation of the young national team members. Then their following movement to seniors is usually very hard and demanding. We all know that the young athlete, coming among the seniors, have no chance to establish themselves and it lasts long time to become adopted to senior level,” today already 40-years old Hurajt is aware of it.
He is looking forward much to the role of the ambassador. But it will be not his premiere. He experienced the premiere during the last OWG in Pjongchang: “IBU YJWCH are at home and my task is only to help the Slovak national team members and to pass on my experiences them so that they couldn’t do any serious mistakes. Whether just before the start or at the end of the training. We want them to show what they know and to show it on the home ground,” the native of Poprad continues.
At the same time he prepared some useful advices for the young biathletes: “They are used on any system from their clubs and then they come into national team. There is another trainer with his own and another methods. And there a little conflict may come into existence – what and how to exercise. And then there is very important time shortly before start. Each athlete certainly wants to bring the best performance but using his own exerted method which he is used to use, for example, when to go for breakfast, what he will drink, when to test out the skis and so on, i.e. such details. And then at the last minute he changes something because he wants to improve something – but it does not have to have a successful impact and such changes made shortly before competition could everything put wrong and such way to lose good result,” Pavol Hurajt added.
Matej Kubove