# Transcript: Where there’s a will, there’s a way

## Description

Who is Jan Tománek



Jan Tománek is a professional athlete and Ironman world champion. At the age of fifteen, he was involved in a traffic accident where he was hit by an inattentive driver. He dealt with this difficult situation and the resulting disability in his own way, and today he is one of the most successful disabled athletes in the world. He inspires those around him with his achievements, which he values far more than winning against competitors.

## Transcript

**[00:00:00]** Hello and good day, my name is Jesus.

**[00:00:04]** Thank you for coming.

**[00:00:06]** Thank you for coming.

**[00:00:08]** Thank you for coming.

**[00:00:10]** Thank you for coming.

**[00:00:12]** Thank you for coming.

**[00:00:14]** Thank you for coming.

**[00:00:16]** Thank you for coming.

**[00:00:18]** Thank you for coming.

**[00:00:20]** Thank you for coming.

**[00:00:22]** Thank you for coming.

**[00:00:24]** Thank you for coming.

**[00:00:26]** Thank you for coming.

**[00:00:28]** Hello and good day, my name is Honza Mašek.

**[00:00:30]** And I welcome you here

**[00:00:32]** to another Brain and Breakfast.

**[00:00:34]** As you know,

**[00:00:36]** for some time now,

**[00:00:38]** the Brain and Breakfasts have been divided

**[00:00:40]** into classic and business,

**[00:00:42]** so this is a classic breakfast,

**[00:00:44]** which should

**[00:00:46]** open our horizons a bit.

**[00:00:48]** Greetings to all the companies

**[00:00:50]** where we are broadcasting, to libraries, to coverking centers,

**[00:00:52]** and to schools.

**[00:00:54]** For me, today's breakfast will be

**[00:00:56]** special

**[00:00:58]** and I am really looking forward to it.

**[00:01:00]** But before we start,

**[00:01:02]** we should thank the breakfast partners.

**[00:01:04]** Whether it's Magenta,

**[00:01:06]** who is hosting us.

**[00:01:08]** Many thanks, frutissimo.

**[00:01:10]** Partners, good breakfasts.

**[00:01:12]** And then Slido, an important partner

**[00:01:14]** for our interactivity.

**[00:01:16]** So slowly prepare

**[00:01:18]** your mobile phones.

**[00:01:20]** And the QR code you see,

**[00:01:22]** that will take you

**[00:01:24]** to the newsletter of the

**[00:01:26]** Red Button network, which actually

**[00:01:28]** is completely behind those breakfasts

**[00:01:30]** and not just them.

**[00:01:32]** So if you're curious about what mischief

**[00:01:34]** this network is up to,

**[00:01:36]** you'll find out

**[00:01:38]** lots of information in the shortcut.

**[00:01:40]** As I said,

**[00:01:42]** today you will

**[00:01:44]** as always need

**[00:01:46]** your mobile phone if you want to

**[00:01:48]** ask questions, which I believe

**[00:01:50]** will be a big part of today.

**[00:01:52]** So you can scan this QR code

**[00:01:54]** or go to www.slajdu.com

**[00:01:56]** and enter

**[00:01:58]** the hashtag Brain.

**[00:02:00]** And for those of you watching us

**[00:02:02]** on our Red Button Edu platform,

**[00:02:04]** it's under the broadcast window,

**[00:02:06]** so you have the slajdu right there.

**[00:02:08]** Now I'll test you

**[00:02:10]** at the start and mainly try

**[00:02:12]** to see how

**[00:02:14]** the audience is spread today. So I've already

**[00:02:16]** asked the first question,

**[00:02:18]** and it is

**[00:02:20]** whether this is your first breakfast

**[00:02:22]** or if you've ever

**[00:02:24]** had breakfast with us before,

**[00:02:26]** so please just answer me.

**[00:02:28]** Please, please.

**[00:02:30]** I kind of

**[00:02:32]** expected it would be.

**[00:02:34]** Those who come here more often

**[00:02:36]** know that I really like this result,

**[00:02:38]** because the moment when

**[00:02:42]** there is a lot of dominance

**[00:02:44]** no, that means we are expanding

**[00:02:46]** our bubble and that's very

**[00:02:48]** good. It means that the breakfasts are reaching

**[00:02:50]** the eyes and ears of new people,

**[00:02:52]** so I believe that whether in the archive

**[00:02:54]** or anywhere else

**[00:02:56]** the breakfast will bring you joy.

**[00:02:58]** So, I won't

**[00:03:00]** prolong my introduction today because that's not why you're here.

**[00:03:02]** You came for someone completely different

**[00:03:04]** and I will invite

**[00:03:06]** one of the greatest guys I've

**[00:03:08]** met, Honza Tománek. Honza, come join us.

**[00:03:10]** Hi. Hey.

**[00:03:12]** Good day. Hi Honza.

**[00:03:14]** Thank you for the invitation. Hi, hi.

**[00:03:16]** Well, I

**[00:03:18]** really won't prolong it.

**[00:03:20]** You are a world champion.

**[00:03:22]** You will tell your story, which is absolutely amazing

**[00:03:24]** and all that you have achieved.

**[00:03:26]** Here is the symbolic baton

**[00:03:28]** and I look forward to this hour

**[00:03:30]** of storytelling and then don't forget

**[00:03:32]** to ask questions, because today you really can

**[00:03:34]** ask anything. So Honza, it's yours.

**[00:03:36]** Thank you.

**[00:03:38]** So, good day

**[00:03:40]** friends. Thank you very much for

**[00:03:42]** the introduction. My name is

**[00:03:44]** Honza Tománek. I will just

**[00:03:46]** click to my

**[00:03:48]** slide.

**[00:03:50]** Today I will share

**[00:03:52]** my life story titled

**[00:03:54]** Where there is a will, there is a way.

**[00:03:56]** Because exactly

**[00:03:58]** this, or this from that

**[00:04:02]** I think it absolutely describes me.

**[00:04:04]** Because

**[00:04:06]** everyone in life

**[00:04:08]** experiences moments

**[00:04:10]** when we hit rock bottom.

**[00:04:12]** But for me,

**[00:04:14]** the definition of a true victory

**[00:04:16]** is not about those

**[00:04:18]** medals, or when people

**[00:04:20]** pat me on the back for success.

**[00:04:22]** The real

**[00:04:24]** victory

**[00:04:26]** is deeper.

**[00:04:28]** It’s in the moments when we fall

**[00:04:30]** to the bottom, but have

**[00:04:32]** the will to get up and move

**[00:04:34]** forward. That, to me,

**[00:04:36]** is the true and real

**[00:04:38]** definition of victory. Also,

**[00:04:40]** the time isn’t running over there.

**[00:04:42]** Just so I

**[00:04:44]** know. I’m really

**[00:04:46]** happy that today will be interactive,

**[00:04:48]** especially through questions from the slides.

**[00:04:50]** Because I admit, right now

**[00:04:52]** I’m in a really interesting

**[00:04:54]** state of mind, and you

**[00:04:56]** are giving me a lot of energy.

**[00:04:58]** I just got back from

**[00:05:00]** a race, and I’m really

**[00:05:02]** worn out because it

**[00:05:04]** didn’t go exactly as planned.

**[00:05:06]** And that makes me appreciate

**[00:05:08]** your attention even more. But let’s

**[00:05:10]** start at the beginning of my story.

**[00:05:12]** I was born

**[00:05:14]** a standard, non-disabled

**[00:05:16]** child. Actually,

**[00:05:18]** I only ended up in a wheelchair

**[00:05:22]** over time. And by that,

**[00:05:24]** since I come from a bit of a teaching

**[00:05:26]** family, at home

**[00:05:28]** I was promised that magical phrase.

**[00:05:30]** You're not stupid, so study.

**[00:05:32]** You’ve probably heard that too,

**[00:05:34]** because there are people here

**[00:05:36]** in the division. And actually from

**[00:05:38]** a young age at our place,

**[00:05:40]** there was a certain emphasis, of course,

**[00:05:42]** on education,

**[00:05:44]** so that we would really

**[00:05:46]** become something.

**[00:05:48]** I was born

**[00:05:50]** into a family, I had an older

**[00:05:52]** brother who to some extent

**[00:05:54]** was a role model for me, like older

**[00:05:56]** siblings usually are.

**[00:05:58]** They tend to be role models, but what

**[00:06:00]** was typical for our family

**[00:06:02]** was that we were always very

**[00:06:04]** active. And my parents

**[00:06:06]** always encouraged me to be that way.

**[00:06:08]** To do things that

**[00:06:10]** I enjoy, to do them

**[00:06:12]** fully.

**[00:06:14]** But there was always that emphasis

**[00:06:16]** on education. And actually,

**[00:06:18]** for the first time at 14

**[00:06:20]** I started to ask myself,

**[00:06:22]** what will I become one day,

**[00:06:24]** what will I do. At that time I was studying

**[00:06:26]** in elementary school, I belonged

**[00:06:28]** to, let's say,

**[00:06:30]** the better students, so

**[00:06:32]** of course there was a planned

**[00:06:34]** kind of

**[00:06:36]** career or path

**[00:06:38]** to university.

**[00:06:40]** And actually in this direction

**[00:06:42]** I wanted to push myself.

**[00:06:44]** However, in my life, I never

**[00:06:46]** took anything just as something I wanted and then

**[00:06:48]** it came. An important thing

**[00:06:50]** to be successful is

**[00:06:52]** to want,

**[00:06:54]** to dream,

**[00:06:56]** but at the same time to be able to sacrifice something

**[00:06:58]** and actually do something for it.

**[00:07:00]** Already at 14 years old,

**[00:07:02]** I was quite clear

**[00:07:04]** that I wanted to become an architect one day,

**[00:07:06]** which was my serious

**[00:07:08]** goal. I definitely

**[00:07:10]** didn't plan at that time to

**[00:07:12]** end up making a living as a

**[00:07:14]** professional athlete, but life is funny.

**[00:07:16]** You have to end up in a wheelchair to be able to

**[00:07:18]** make a living from that sport, which is

**[00:07:20]** absurd and very interesting in itself.

**[00:07:22]** However, at that moment,

**[00:07:24]** at 14, I had the goal ahead of me,

**[00:07:26]** yes, to get into

**[00:07:28]** a grammar school, later to study

**[00:07:30]** architecture. Although I

**[00:07:32]** would probably have passed the entrance exams to a general

**[00:07:34]** grammar school without any

**[00:07:36]** problem, I still

**[00:07:38]** told myself I like to have things under control,

**[00:07:40]** so I prepared purposefully.

**[00:07:42]** Then came

**[00:07:44]** the D-day when I went to

**[00:07:46]** the entrance exams. You all know it,

**[00:07:48]** going to an interview, to work,

**[00:07:50]** facing some new

**[00:07:52]** sports competition, some

**[00:07:54]** challenge. We are so small,

**[00:08:02]** We are afraid, but we believe in it.

**[00:08:04]** When we are prepared,

**[00:08:06]** we just believe. And with that

**[00:08:08]** mindset, I actually

**[00:08:10]** went to the entrance exams, and I

**[00:08:12]** really enjoyed it. And suddenly,

**[00:08:14]** wow, the moment came

**[00:08:16]** of the results, I

**[00:08:18]** got into the GYMPL

**[00:08:20]** and I truly felt

**[00:08:22]** happy, I felt on top.

**[00:08:24]** And I started

**[00:08:26]** at that prestigious school,

**[00:08:28]** a handsome guy, right?

**[00:08:30]** I enjoyed the attention of my classmates

**[00:08:32]** at a fresh fifteen years old.

**[00:08:34]** What more could you want, right?

**[00:08:36]** But this happy end

**[00:08:38]** didn't last very long.

**[00:08:40]** And I faced

**[00:08:42]** the first really big

**[00:08:44]** disaster in my life.

**[00:08:46]** Probably one of the biggest.

**[00:08:48]** And it's actually a story

**[00:08:50]** about an unfinished match.

**[00:08:52]** In our lives,

**[00:08:54]** we really like

**[00:08:56]** to experience moments that are

**[00:08:58]** wow, when the world lies

**[00:09:00]** at our feet, when we are happy

**[00:09:02]** and content. But life

**[00:09:04]** has to be balanced.

**[00:09:06]** And just as there are good

**[00:09:08]** moments, there are logically

**[00:09:10]** also bad moments.

**[00:09:12]** And one moment without the other

**[00:09:14]** would actually make no sense.

**[00:09:16]** And at a fresh fifteen years old,

**[00:09:18]** I faced the fact that

**[00:09:20]** I got

**[00:09:22]** with a bad walk game

**[00:09:24]** several situations on a wheelchair.

**[00:09:26]** We were at football

**[00:09:28]** training with a friend,

**[00:09:30]** we were playing that little football,

**[00:09:32]** if you are a football player

**[00:09:34]** or have been involved in any team sport,

**[00:09:36]** you know that at the end of every

**[00:09:38]** training there is always free play,

**[00:09:40]** which is what we enjoy the most.

**[00:09:42]** So we were playing that little football

**[00:09:44]** at the end and the coach was already saying,

**[00:09:46]** hey guys, the time change is coming soon,

**[00:09:48]** we're finishing, go home,

**[00:09:50]** so nothing happens.

**[00:09:52]** Of course, when you're in the heat of the moment,

**[00:09:54]** you don't want to stop.

**[00:09:56]** And I was the one telling the coach,

**[00:09:58]** no, a little longer, five more minutes, ten more minutes, and the time kept stretching.

**[00:10:00]** And we really left football training with my friend in deep darkness

**[00:10:06]** and then the moment came when we were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

**[00:10:12]** Of course, it raises questions of what if, which is natural,

**[00:10:18]** but you must not dwell on it too long.

**[00:10:24]** Anyway, at that moment a car was coming and hit us both.

**[00:10:28]** My friend did not survive this serious accident and I was lucky,

**[00:10:34]** as I say today with some perspective, with just a cosmetic injury.

**[00:10:39]** However, a period of life came when I absolutely didn't know what would happen next,

**[00:10:44]** because my diagnosis was not initially strict enough to say I wouldn't walk.

**[00:10:53]** What happened then? My friend didn't survive the accident, a car hit me from behind,

**[00:10:59]** I bent my spine extremely, but the spine held, the spinal cord held,

**[00:11:05]** I broke my legs a bit, but let's call that a cosmetic injury.

**[00:11:11]** But something happened that because I bent my spine extremely,

**[00:11:16]** the spinal cord later bled, a hematoma developed on it, which blocked it.

**[00:11:20]** And I was in this condition in the hospital and now it was being decided what would happen to me.

**[00:11:28]** Would I walk or not? And there were doctors saying,

**[00:11:34]** you'll walk, you have to exercise a lot. There were doctors saying no, you won't walk.

**[00:11:39]** Well logically, selective hearing works so that you choose what you want to hear.

**[00:11:45]** And I focused on the fact that I would walk, that I would stay active, that I had to rehabilitate.

**[00:11:50]** I gave it my all, which was typical for me, but it just didn't go according to plan.

**[00:12:04]** And at another certain stage of my life, I started thinking, damn, what’s next,

**[00:12:11]** this isn’t going exactly as planned. And with my injury, I felt like I had lost something.

**[00:12:20]** I felt like I wasn’t a complete person, and I don’t mean that in the sense that

**[00:12:26]** I suddenly stopped walking. But I was missing that inner driving force,

**[00:12:32]** where I would do something I enjoy, something fulfilling. That just wasn’t there after the injury.

**[00:12:39]** And I later regained that something through sports.

**[00:12:44]** The importance of hobbies and our passions in our lives is really key, important,

**[00:12:53]** because we all experience days and moments when things don’t go well, when it’s tough.

**[00:13:00]** But when we have something that brings a smile to our face, whether it’s sports,

**[00:13:08]** or embroidery, music, it doesn’t matter.

**[00:13:12]** What matters is having some inner driving forces.

**[00:13:17]** I felt that lying in the hospital, already using the wheelchair,

**[00:13:24]** wasn’t bringing me much happiness. I told myself, damn, I need to move.

**[00:13:30]** And I picked swimming, because my reasoning was very simple.

**[00:13:36]** Swimming is used in rehabilitation, all big animals, elephants, hippos,

**[00:13:44]** like to go into water because it supports their weight.

**[00:13:47]** If half my body doesn’t work, I’ll just get in and start swimming.

**[00:13:51]** That was my thought.

**[00:13:54]** The reality was maybe a bit, no, it was really different.

**[00:13:59]** I remember my first swim,

**[00:14:02]** and to call it swimming is really an exaggeration.

**[00:14:07]** I remember sitting on the edge of the pool thinking, damn,

**[00:14:11]** how am I actually going to get into the water?

**[00:14:14]** Well, maybe some divine intervention, I fell in.

**[00:14:19]** And friends, I consider my first sports victory in life to be that

**[00:14:24]** within about 10-15 seconds I managed to get from underwater to the surface

**[00:14:29]** and didn’t drown.

**[00:14:31]** My first swim ended. I didn’t drown.

**[00:14:35]** But I like things I finish, things I conquer.

**[00:14:41]** I came back to the water the next day, again and again.

**[00:14:45]** By then I wasn’t falling in on purpose, I was getting in more skillfully.

**[00:14:50]** It took about a week and I was able to swim my first pool length.

**[00:14:58]** The journey from the first pool length to a kilometer took about another month.

**[00:15:04]** But finally, I started to realize myself in something where I forgot,

**[00:15:10]** or was forgetting, my handicap because I was focused on the current challenge,

**[00:15:16]** which I enjoyed and wanted to overcome.

**[00:15:22]** And the beauty of sports in general is that if you can sacrifice something

**[00:15:27]** and give something to it, it can give back to you.

**[00:15:31]** At least at the start, the more you give,

**[00:15:36]** the faster it starts to come back to you.

**[00:15:39]** So for me, it was motivating to conquer the first hundred, the first five hundred,

**[00:15:45]** the first kilometer. I thought, wow, this is just great.

**[00:15:50]** And I kept going up.

**[00:15:52]** But after about half a year of swimming, rehabilitation,

**[00:15:58]** and kind of social rehabilitation to get back into life,

**[00:16:04]** I started thinking, hey, swimming isn't really it anymore.

**[00:16:08]** I don't want to offend swimmers. Not at all.

**[00:16:11]** But especially when you consider the environment of Czech pools,

**[00:16:15]** where usually, whatever you can imagine, is often swimming there,

**[00:16:20]** so it's swimming back and forth, back and forth.

**[00:16:24]** And for two or three kilometers, it's really back and forth, back and forth.

**[00:16:28]** Really too many times.

**[00:16:30]** So I stopped enjoying it and it didn't seem very appealing anymore.

**[00:16:34]** And I always wanted to be outside, to feel the speed.

**[00:16:39]** And since before the injury I had started cycling a bit,

**[00:16:44]** I thought, wow, a bike would be great.

**[00:16:48]** But the thought of starting to ride a handbike,

**[00:16:51]** I kind of forbade myself at first.

**[00:16:55]** Why? Because I thought,

**[00:16:57]** I'm in a wheelchair, this is temporary, it will get better.

**[00:17:01]** I was flipping through cycling catalogs

**[00:17:04]** and choosing a cool bike that I would buy once I could walk again.

**[00:17:09]** But suddenly a year, a year and a half passed.

**[00:17:12]** And my condition kept improving.

**[00:17:15]** And at a regular wheelchair demo, I saw a handbike.

**[00:17:20]** And it was truly love at first sight.

**[00:17:23]** I sat on it.

**[00:17:25]** And suddenly I was experiencing those feelings, that beautiful effort.

**[00:17:29]** The feeling of having the wind in my hair again.

**[00:17:32]** The feeling of flowing with the moment.

**[00:17:35]** If any of you are cyclists, runners, or cross-country skiers, you'll understand.

**[00:17:40]** It's simply that moment of flow.

**[00:17:43]** You have yourself, a beautiful surrounding environment, the sport.

**[00:17:49]** And at that moment, nothing else matters, yet everything matters.

**[00:17:55]** It's that moment of flow.

**[00:17:57]** And I felt that immediately on the handbike.

**[00:18:02]** And gradually I started to accept my handicap.

**[00:18:06]** And I was able to define this great wisdom.

**[00:18:09]** That any problem is as big as we feel it to be.

**[00:18:14]** And that actually reflects my journey from the first kilometers

**[00:18:19]** to the first race, which took about three months,

**[00:18:24]** before I actually started in my first handbike race.

**[00:18:28]** It was almost exactly two years after that unfortunate event that put me in a wheelchair.

**[00:18:34]** And suddenly I felt like I was alive again.

**[00:18:38]** And I had many sports dreams and challenges ahead of me.

**[00:18:44]** Thanks to sports, I actually started traveling.

**[00:18:49]** And when a person can dream and want something and also do something about it,

**[00:18:55]** they can achieve it.

**[00:18:58]** For me, sport was clear proof of that.

**[00:19:01]** So the first thing I dreamed of,

**[00:19:04]** was to start competing at all.

**[00:19:07]** Then I thought, wow, I can do this, so I want medals.

**[00:19:11]** The next year I was on the podium for the first time.

**[00:19:14]** It wasn’t a very significant or competitive race,

**[00:19:17]** but that didn’t matter, it was motivating.

**[00:19:19]** And now I was on the podium, I had the medal, and I thought, wow, this is great.

**[00:19:25]** But I’m someone who doesn’t stay in one place,

**[00:19:28]** who always thinks ahead and wants to keep developing.

**[00:19:33]** What was yesterday is long gone, and I look more forward.

**[00:19:40]** Sometimes I completely lack nostalgia,

**[00:19:43]** and I can’t fully realize what I’ve achieved,

**[00:19:47]** because sometimes I move at too fast a pace.

**[00:19:51]** Anyway, I wanted to win the Czech Republic championship title first.

**[00:19:56]** In the time trial of a road race.

**[00:19:59]** I managed to do it all.

**[00:20:00]** And you could say I was one of the most prominent figures in Czech

**[00:20:05]** and basically European handcycling.

**[00:20:09]** I was successful. Likewise, the world of sports for disabled athletes

**[00:20:14]** experienced a huge boom around 2005-2010,

**[00:20:23]** and today, when you imagine

**[00:20:27]** almost any sport or team sport,

**[00:20:32]** there is a version of it in the world of disabled athletes.

**[00:20:38]** At that time, I was already a decent cyclist,

**[00:20:43]** doing well and looking for new challenges.

**[00:20:47]** I started cross-country skiing in winter,

**[00:20:50]** and began to flirt with the idea of triathlons,

**[00:20:54]** but every person has their own potential,

**[00:21:00]** which is great to fulfill, but you must not systematically exceed it.

**[00:21:07]** To push yourself, as they say, beyond your limits.

**[00:21:10]** And that’s exactly what I was doing.

**[00:21:12]** I wanted to be a great cyclist,

**[00:21:15]** in winter I wanted to be a great cross-country skier,

**[00:21:19]** racing on skis and competing in World Cups.

**[00:21:21]** Along the way, I tried a long-distance triathlon,

**[00:21:24]** and I fell in love with it at the first race,

**[00:21:27]** because for me it wasn’t just about medals,

**[00:21:30]** but about pushing myself

**[00:21:33]** and actually moving forward.

**[00:21:36]** When I raced in cycling events,

**[00:21:38]** I reached a level where

**[00:21:41]** I raced just to get medals,

**[00:21:44]** and when I had medals, I was happy,

**[00:21:48]** when I didn’t, I was unhappy.

**[00:21:50]** Which doesn’t really make much sense or have deeper meaning.

**[00:21:53]** But in long-distance triathlon, I suddenly started feeling

**[00:21:57]** what a huge challenge it was to push myself,

**[00:22:02]** starting alongside healthy athletes,

**[00:22:05]** it was something bigger than me,

**[00:22:08]** beyond the egoistic approach of individual sports.

**[00:22:17]** I began to realize that through my sport,

**[00:22:19]** I could inspire and motivate people,

**[00:22:22]** which was a huge benefit for me.

**[00:22:25]** But I was still in a complicated phase,

**[00:22:29]** wanting everything and wanting to be perfect at everything.

**[00:22:33]** To give you a clearer picture of how I was functioning then,

**[00:22:36]** I was really pushing myself to the limit,

**[00:22:40]** especially towards the end.

**[00:22:45]** At one point, my arm even temporarily went numb,

**[00:22:47]** which is really bad when your legs already don’t work.

**[00:22:51]** And at that moment, I was just driving to World Cup cycling races.

**[00:22:55]** My thought was that I had just overdone it.

**[00:22:58]** So I drove 10 hours to Italy.

**[00:23:00]** I was looking forward to riding my bike,

**[00:23:04]** because cycling is like medicine to me, that’s how I see it.

**[00:23:07]** And when I got on the bike and my arm kept dropping like this,

**[00:23:10]** with no strength in it, I thought, maybe I can still ride.

**[00:23:15]** I actually taped my arm to the bike.

**[00:23:19]** It wasn’t really that I could ride it,

**[00:23:30]** There was indeed nerve paralysis.

**[00:23:32]** It took about half a year to fully recover,

**[00:23:36]** so it forced me to slow down a bit,

**[00:23:39]** but unfortunately only a little.

**[00:23:42]** And these health problems gradually chained together,

**[00:23:46]** because I always went all in and full throttle.

**[00:23:50]** But I didn’t realize one important thing,

**[00:23:54]** which is the fragility of our health.

**[00:23:57]** Even though I was taught by all the previous health mishaps,

**[00:24:01]** I should have clearly understood

**[00:24:04]** that health is above all else.

**[00:24:06]** But I still saw it as a cliché,

**[00:24:10]** until at one point in my sports career I ended up in the hospital again,

**[00:24:14]** which was a situation I always feared,

**[00:24:17]** but in the end I was in a fairly severe septic state

**[00:24:22]** with a widespread bacterial infection.

**[00:24:25]** And suddenly I couldn’t and wasn’t allowed to do anything at all.

**[00:24:29]** And then I asked myself, damn, what am I going to do next?

**[00:24:34]** That question was very similar to the one

**[00:24:37]** I asked myself back when I ended up in a wheelchair.

**[00:24:42]** And life is truly funny in how it just cycles.

**[00:24:46]** There are moments when we succeed and moments when we don’t.

**[00:24:50]** And just like the market economy,

**[00:24:53]** it keeps going up and down.

**[00:24:56]** And it never stabilizes, because if it did,

**[00:24:59]** it would be boring and we wouldn’t appreciate it anyway.

**[00:25:02]** Anyway, at that moment I knew what I wanted.

**[00:25:06]** What I wanted to do, but at the same time I knew

**[00:25:09]** that I had to do it or start doing it a bit smarter, a bit better.

**[00:25:14]** Not to get stuck in that chain of mistakes.

**[00:25:19]** And I was able to define four main components

**[00:25:24]** that control our health.

**[00:25:27]** Among those components is undoubtedly sleep.

**[00:25:31]** Nowadays, thankfully, sleep really gets

**[00:25:34]** a lot of attention, and it’s truly not good

**[00:25:38]** to sleep four hours a day and keep running at full throttle like that.

**[00:25:42]** You can manage it for some time, but our bodies are brilliant in that

**[00:25:47]** they always give us the stop signal.

**[00:25:50]** At first, it’s mood disorders, feeling unmotivated,

**[00:25:54]** being irritable and unpleasant to those around us.

**[00:25:58]** That's the first thing there.

**[00:26:01]** But over time, health problems start to appear,

**[00:26:05]** which our body uses to warn us

**[00:26:08]** that we really should slow down and do things a bit differently.

**[00:26:12]** Another important component, or one of the most important,

**[00:26:17]** irreplaceable among the four, is movement.

**[00:26:21]** Because I say that a human is simply an animal.

**[00:26:25]** And movement is natural for our organism.

**[00:26:29]** Physiologically, we are programmed for it.

**[00:26:32]** When it comes to managing stress, the human body is actually programmed

**[00:26:38]** for fight or flight mode.

**[00:26:41]** Do you know it? Don't you?

**[00:26:43]** Fight or flight mode basically serves to help us survive in the wild.

**[00:26:47]** Modern humans are no longer in the wild,

**[00:26:50]** but we are programmed the same way.

**[00:26:53]** When we face a stress reaction, everything in our body

**[00:26:56]** activates to prepare us for action.

**[00:27:01]** So we can either fight the animal or run away from it.

**[00:27:05]** But in today's world, this rarely happens anymore,

**[00:27:11]** that we respond to stressors with movement.

**[00:27:15]** And when this lasts for some time, it's like

**[00:27:19]** starting and stopping a car repeatedly.

**[00:27:23]** Start it and turn it off.

**[00:27:26]** Start it and turn it off.

**[00:27:29]** That's not good for the engine, and it's not good for our body either.

**[00:27:33]** That's why including movement in our lives is key,

**[00:27:37]** to keep our body, let's say,

**[00:27:42]** in the right balance.

**[00:27:45]** Another integral part is the nutritional component.

**[00:27:49]** That's basically what we eat and drink.

**[00:27:52]** Nowadays, I think the nutritional component is maybe overrated

**[00:27:58]** and the other components that influence it are underestimated.

**[00:28:02]** Because in our lives, nothing is ever 100%.

**[00:28:07]** Even though we keep pushing for it.

**[00:28:09]** And believe me, I am a big perfectionist.

**[00:28:12]** But it simply is never and will never be, and probably can't be, 100%.

**[00:28:18]** And truly, if you take 75-80% from each of these components,

**[00:28:25]** but have them all represented,

**[00:28:28]** believe me, you will do the maximum for your health.

**[00:28:32]** Finally, of course, there is psychosocial well-being.

**[00:28:36]** It's the state of being content with ourselves,

**[00:28:41]** being able to maintain some friendly relationships,

**[00:28:45]** and maybe doing what we enjoy and what gives us meaning.

**[00:28:51]** And definitely, going through that difficult period again,

**[00:28:59]** forced me to define another kind of inner wisdom,

**[00:29:05]** actually an inner insight.

**[00:29:07]** That in life, success never really pushes us forward,

**[00:29:12]** but usually failure does.

**[00:29:14]** Because when things aren't going well, we can define it.

**[00:29:20]** We can define why things aren't working out.

**[00:29:23]** But we have the will to move forward and start doing something.

**[00:29:30]** So we get the most out of it.

**[00:29:33]** And I think that's really important to realize.

**[00:29:37]** Because we experience moments of victory,

**[00:29:41]** which are simply nice and we like to remember them.

**[00:29:45]** Whether it's a promotion at work or building a business.

**[00:29:51]** It's great, but we get used to it.

**[00:29:54]** And it sets a bar that we want to surpass.

**[00:30:00]** We want to keep growing, but there always comes a moment when growth stops, we fall for a while,

**[00:30:08]** and then it's up to us whether we take control of our life actively, becoming the creator,

**[00:30:16]** or we stay passive and say, 'this happened, that happened'.

**[00:30:22]** My nature is to be active and get inspired even by the toughest moments.

**[00:30:30]** And now I won't say that moments of despair and tears don't come, they belong to our lives.

**[00:30:37]** They give us some time, some distance.

**[00:30:41]** I think it's necessary to work with every emotion, both positive and negative,

**[00:30:47]** and all emotions belong in our lives.

**[00:30:51]** But if we can take the good from the bad moments,

**[00:30:55]** then we step forward, or in my case, we can enter the next ascent.

**[00:31:02]** And with that new mindset, I jumped back onto the fast-moving train

**[00:31:12]** of top-level sport, but now I was wiser because of the health setbacks,

**[00:31:18]** I knew very well that I couldn't do everything and be perfect at everything.

**[00:31:25]** So I focused on what was my biggest challenge at the time.

**[00:31:31]** In the summer months, it was a long triathlon, and in the winter months,

**[00:31:36]** it was cross-country skiing. Even before the injury, I had actually signed up

**[00:31:43]** for the cross-country race Jizerská padesátka. You might know it, it's one

**[00:31:50]** of the most prominent sporting events in the Czech Republic.

**[00:31:54]** In recent years, unfortunately, it's often been linked with uncertainty,

**[00:31:58]** whether it will take place or not because of the snow. I signed up for Jizerská padesátka

**[00:32:03]** for the first time before the injury because I really loved and was drawn to the mountain environment and those trails.

**[00:32:09]** But then the combination of circumstances came.

**[00:32:14]** Accident, wheelchair, no sports. And suddenly, a few years later, I started to realize,

**[00:32:22]** that I could even make money from cross-country skiing. With one Czech manufacturer,

**[00:32:27]** we designed the first cross-country ski in the Czech Republic, which I somehow

**[00:32:32]** adapted to my handicap, based on what I already knew about sports,

**[00:32:37]** or how I wanted to set it up, so under my guidance we actually

**[00:32:42]** made that ski. And I started skiing on those skis.

**[00:32:46]** And suddenly I felt the exact same freedom as back then on the handbike,

**[00:32:52]** when I was riding in the snowy mountains, it was just me, nature, and the ski.

**[00:32:59]** And it was something beautiful. Plus, the winter environment really teaches us great humility.

**[00:33:06]** Because in summer, when you’re biking or running and you can’t go on and want to stop,

**[00:33:12]** you just stop, and nothing much threatens you.

**[00:33:16]** But in winter, when you’re in snowy mountains and, as a detail,

**[00:33:21]** half your body might not work, you have to think a lot.

**[00:33:25]** You have to consider that you could fall, get tired, exhausted, and there’s the risk of cold.

**[00:33:35]** And nature really teaches you huge humility.

**[00:33:39]** And from the very first moment, I fell in love with those skis because of those challenges,

**[00:33:45]** the outdoor environment.

**[00:33:47]** And it was truly something that made me say wow again.

**[00:33:51]** And the moment I got going, it wasn’t that it started to get boring.

**[00:33:56]** I enjoyed it.

**[00:33:57]** But after a week, two weeks, a month, it was kind of the same.

**[00:34:03]** It was still great, but I thought, damn, it would be worth doing the Jizerská 50.

**[00:34:09]** I actually tried for the first time in 2014.

**[00:34:14]** But at that time, the Jizerská 50 was canceled due to lack of snow.

**[00:34:19]** In recent years, unfortunately, this has become somewhat standard,

**[00:34:23]** and it’s uncertain whether the race will happen or not.

**[00:34:26]** But I took it as a big personal failure that year in 2014.

**[00:34:31]** Even though it wasn’t logically my fault, I had built my winter season around it,

**[00:34:38]** planning to do the Jizerská 50, gained new partners, got some money,

**[00:34:44]** but in the contracts, I didn’t consider the possibility that I wouldn’t make it.

**[00:34:48]** Or that the event would be canceled.

**[00:34:51]** And it really took three years before I could complete the Jizerská 50,

**[00:34:57]** even after all the other health setbacks.

**[00:35:00]** Suddenly, it was like a comeback, as they say.

**[00:35:04]** And in 2017, I finally succeeded and completed the Jizerská 50.

**[00:35:10]** I have to say I was well prepared, but I already had some perspective,

**[00:35:16]** knowing things might not work out.

**[00:35:19]** The race really had a dynamic where at the start I had

**[00:35:24]** first the nerves, the initial climb.

**[00:35:27]** Then I thought, okay, good, now it’s getting going.

**[00:35:30]** I was already halfway through the course, in a great time.

**[00:35:34]** I thought, wow, awesome, this is going well, it’s going to be good.

**[00:35:39]** Life is funny in that if you don’t pay full attention for a moment,

**[00:35:46]** something bad just happens.

**[00:35:51]** And the mishap was ironically funny because I was catching up to

**[00:35:55]** a blind athlete. Two disabled athletes on the course.

**[00:36:02]** One in a wheelchair, that was me, and one blind, who was ahead of me

**[00:36:06]** with his guide. I was pushing hard on the flat, going,

**[00:36:10]** and the blind guy was just ahead. I was focused on the finish,

**[00:36:14]** so I called out, track, track. But my mind was already

**[00:36:19]** almost at the finish, or in the flow, how it was going,

**[00:36:22]** and I just hit him from behind.

**[00:36:25]** So what, he fell, I fell to the ground,

**[00:36:29]** and we started to get up. Then I realized, damn,

**[00:36:34]** my binding was broken, I actually had a broken binding.

**[00:36:38]** And I thought, the whole dream, the whole performance, it’s all ruined again.

**[00:36:43]** I almost poked the blind guy with my pole, but the poor guy wasn’t to blame.

**[00:36:47]** At that moment, I saw him as the cause of all

**[00:36:52]** the bad things in the world. But anyway, we got up,

**[00:36:56]** the blind guy and his guide moved on, and now what? Since Laufe was with my friend,

**[00:37:02]** who is my sparring partner in winter, in case something happened, if some guy

**[00:37:06]** called for help, my sparring was there. I looked

**[00:37:10]** at his ski and said, hey, we have the same bindings, right?

**[00:37:14]** Give me a ski. So I took his ski, and he, poor guy, ran

**[00:37:19]** back about 5 km to Jizerka to get a replacement ski.

**[00:37:23]** Meanwhile, I kept going. My friend caught up with me

**[00:37:28]** about 2 km before the finish, completely exhausted, and said, so, we made it.

**[00:37:32]** I said, dude, 2 km left, you never know what can happen.

**[00:37:36]** But we really did make it. I crossed the finish line,

**[00:37:41]** and that moment was absolutely beautiful.

**[00:37:47]** It was a huge satisfaction, and a tear actually fell.

**[00:37:52]** But the moment I crossed the finish line, there were media people,

**[00:37:57]** so I had to hold it back, I was a hero, but it was one of many significant

**[00:38:02]** sporting victories in my life. It wasn’t about any medal,

**[00:38:08]** nor was it really about being the first disabled Czech

**[00:38:12]** to complete the Jizerská 50, but it was about pushing myself.

**[00:38:18]** You could almost say it was my sports peak.

**[00:38:24]** But 14 days later, something a bit crazier was planned.

**[00:38:32]** That was Vasu in running. Suddenly, from a 50 km distance, we move to Sweden,

**[00:38:39]** where my race program included a 90 km. And the Jizerská 50 at this moment,

**[00:38:48]** I had previously considered it just a preparation for what was to come.

**[00:38:54]** Of course, the moment I arrived in Sweden thinking the race was already won,

**[00:38:59]** I was mentally calm, everything was somehow going according to plan.

**[00:39:05]** We arrived in Sweden after some acute fatigue from the race,

**[00:39:09]** I threw myself back into training, feeling great.

**[00:39:13]** When we arrived in Sweden, those of you who ski will understand,

**[00:39:17]** the track was frozen solid, super fast, where you just catch an edge and feel like you're flying.

**[00:39:24]** I was truly flying. During those first training sessions, I thought, wow, this is like flying,

**[00:39:30]** we wanted to finish under nine hours, but wow, we'll go under eight, that will be great.

**[00:39:36]** But again, when you idealize things too much, something comes along, whether it's a blind spot

**[00:39:42]** or the weather, something unexpected happens.

**[00:39:46]** And I clearly remember, before the race, we were sitting in our rented house,

**[00:39:51]** looking out the window as it kept snowing and snowing.

**[00:39:57]** Skiers will understand, because when fresh snow falls,

**[00:40:00]** the track becomes unstable, it's really slow and requires a lot of effort.

**[00:40:07]** And suddenly I thought, wow, this is going to be a disaster, it won't work.

**[00:40:13]** The first part of the Vasaloppet course is a 3 km climb up the red slope.

**[00:40:20]** Many people say after that it's good, it's downhill to the finish.

**[00:40:24]** But that's not entirely true, except for that climb, it's still there.

**[00:40:29]** Plus, there was the factor that about 20 centimeters of snow had fallen.

**[00:40:34]** At that moment, I pushed thoughts about the rest of the course out of my mind

**[00:40:38]** and focused on getting up the 3 km, then it would be downhill.

**[00:40:44]** I climbed those 3 km, which was really awful,

**[00:40:48]** because on the sled, with skis placed parallel beside you,

**[00:40:54]** when you want to turn, you have to push one pole more sideways

**[00:40:58]** and also help yourself with the other pole.

**[00:41:01]** And when 16,000 athletes are climbing that slope,

**[00:41:07]** you need to push not sideways,

**[00:41:11]** but against the slope before you can turn.

**[00:41:16]** It's hard to explain to them when the crowd is going one way and you are going another.

**[00:41:21]** We managed it, got up the hill, and I thought, now it will fly.

**[00:41:27]** There was no track, just a plowed field, nowhere to ski.

**[00:41:35]** I pushed forward, but mostly slid sideways, it was terrible.

**[00:41:41]** However, at that moment I gradually dropped the illusions that

**[00:41:48]** Honza would export it, go to the elite part, it would be amazing,

**[00:41:53]** and that I was raising people's awareness of the sport.

**[00:41:56]** Suddenly I started fighting with myself, wondering if I could even finish.

**[00:42:01]** And that was, of course, a certain beauty of the sport,

**[00:42:07]** because I say the more ultra things we do, the purer they become.

**[00:42:13]** So at the start we have ambitions, dreams, but with growing fatigue

**[00:42:19]** We gradually take off our masks.

**[00:42:23]** And actually, this race had huge emotional dynamics for me in that,

**[00:42:27]** there were truly moments when we were skiing with a sparring partner and saying

**[00:42:31]** wow, we're doing the Vasaloppet, this is amazing.

**[00:42:35]** And then maybe two, three, four hours later after a tough fall,

**[00:42:39]** I'm lying in the snow thinking, damn, I'm still doing the Vasaloppet.

**[00:42:44]** And the emotional dynamics were really amazing.

**[00:42:47]** I remember one moment at the seventieth kilometer,

**[00:42:51]** when we met about an eighty-year-old lady skier,

**[00:42:56]** because it's important to mention that for Swedes, the Vasaloppet

**[00:43:00]** is something that basically defines their nation.

**[00:43:06]** It's part of their life, and they say every Swede

**[00:43:12]** must at least once in their life complete the Vasaloppet,

**[00:43:16]** or at least be involved in its organization.

**[00:43:19]** And you really see people, the determined ones, who just go to finish,

**[00:43:23]** but actually, in that Scandinavian lifestyle,

**[00:43:28]** movement is deeply rooted, which we Central Europeans often lack.

**[00:43:33]** And for them, it's beautiful that movement is part of life.

**[00:43:37]** And at that seventieth kilometer, the look in that lady's eyes

**[00:43:42]** was simply amazing, because she was as exhausted

**[00:43:47]** as I was at that moment, but there was that pure desire and passion

**[00:43:53]** to just keep going and finish.

**[00:43:57]** And again, I get goosebumps. And that's really important in our lives.

**[00:44:02]** Do things with enthusiasm and passion.

**[00:44:07]** Because passion for what we do is what connects us.

**[00:44:12]** What links us together. I always say or give the example

**[00:44:16]** of a friend who has two PhDs in chemistry,

**[00:44:20]** greasy glasses and a stained apron. There's nothing sexy about chemistry,

**[00:44:25]** but the moment she starts talking about it,

**[00:44:28]** I'd quit sports and go study chemistry.

**[00:44:32]** And it's exactly that passion that connects us,

**[00:44:35]** that allows us to communicate.

**[00:44:38]** And actually, after about ten hours and thirty minutes,

**[00:44:44]** I managed to finish the Vasaloppet. The final stretch,

**[00:44:48]** was again something absolutely powerful for me,

**[00:44:52]** because imagine about three hundred meters ahead of you,

**[00:44:57]** an illuminated chapel, a lit finish gate from Prkén,

**[00:45:02]** and ski tracks lined with candles.

**[00:45:09]** That was my finish of the Vasaloppet.

**[00:45:12]** And that moment was truly real at that time,

**[00:45:18]** It's probably my top sporting achievement,

**[00:45:21]** because thanks to this race, I got to know myself.

**[00:45:26]** I discovered what I want to do.

**[00:45:28]** What power I have, what human potential I possess.

**[00:45:33]** And I truly started to believe in things.

**[00:45:36]** And since then, I don't do things to please others.

**[00:45:41]** But because I want to.

**[00:45:43]** And in the same year, I experienced my first big victory in triathlon,

**[00:45:52]** when I traveled to the USA in the fall

**[00:45:56]** and actually won my first world champion title in the half Ironman.

**[00:46:05]** 2017 was truly a breakthrough year for me,

**[00:46:12]** because in 2016, due to health problems, I didn't know or believe

**[00:46:19]** if I could return to sports.

**[00:46:22]** And in 2017, not only did I manage to return fully,

**[00:46:27]** but I fulfilled everything I had only dreamed of until then.

**[00:46:34]** And this really leads us back to the idea

**[00:46:38]** that we should want to dream in our lives.

**[00:46:42]** Because anything we can imagine, we can achieve.

**[00:46:48]** The path is thorny. It's never free.

**[00:46:54]** Many times we hear, no, it can't be done,

**[00:46:58]** but if we believe what our surroundings tell us,

**[00:47:03]** what people who don't believe in us say, that something can't be done,

**[00:47:07]** but we have faith that it can, then we can damn well try.

**[00:47:12]** And very often, we can surpass ourselves

**[00:47:19]** and actually be the true winners who don't give up

**[00:47:24]** and who pursue their dreams and goals.

**[00:47:29]** If I were to tell you about all the races,

**[00:47:34]** all the amazing and crazy stories I've collected over the years,

**[00:47:39]** we'd probably be here for a long time.

**[00:47:43]** Right now, I'll mention winning my third world champion title

**[00:47:48]** in the half Ironman in St. George, Utah, in 2022.

**[00:47:54]** For me, that was a very intense race.

**[00:47:58]** That year, I returned to Utah for the second time,

**[00:48:02]** because I had already raced the full Ironman world championship there,

**[00:48:06]** where I made many sporting mistakes.

**[00:48:11]** I managed to finish successfully,

**[00:48:15]** but during the race, I became severely dehydrated,

**[00:48:19]** had hallucinations, and my legs got a bit sunburned.

**[00:48:25]** Let me explain how. I wear neoprene sleeves on my legs,

**[00:48:29]** but when you're really in the sun where the temperature is 350 degrees,

**[00:48:34]** I didn't really think that the rubber on them

**[00:48:38]** is a bit rough and could burn my fingers.

**[00:48:42]** That's just to show what kind of relationship I have with Utah.

**[00:48:46]** Actually, last fall I returned there for the world championship

**[00:48:50]** in the half Ironman, where I wanted to fight for my third title

**[00:48:54]** as world champion, and it was incredibly symbolic for me.

**[00:48:58]** I enjoyed the race, it was tough but beautiful.

**[00:49:02]** Everything went according to plan. I crossed the finish line,

**[00:49:06]** but the symbolism is that it was exactly 20 years after

**[00:49:10]** I fought for my life in the hospital.

**[00:49:14]** On October 29, 2002, I had an accident,

**[00:49:18]** and on October 29, 2022, around the same time,

**[00:49:22]** I received my third world championship title

**[00:49:26]** in the half Ironman, which I think

**[00:49:30]** is truly beautiful symbolism,

**[00:49:34]** and again it sends a message that

**[00:49:42]** even when situations come into our lives

**[00:49:46]** that we don't expect or want,

**[00:49:50]** who we become and what we achieve is truly within our power,

**[00:49:56]** depending on whether we take an active stance or not.

**[00:50:00]** And again, it's about that if you want it and take action,

**[00:50:07]** you will gain a lot.

**[00:50:12]** I was at the top, but as it often happens, and this moment has great symbolism,

**[00:50:18]** which I will explain later, there come moments when things don't go your way again.

**[00:50:25]** And the line between success and failure is very thin.

**[00:50:32]** I say that if we give our best, do things with our best conscience

**[00:50:41]** and greatest effort, even if it doesn't work out, we can rightfully feel like winners.

**[00:50:49]** I experienced that internally at the Ironman, or at the full Ironman world championship in 2023.

**[00:50:57]** To illustrate the difficulty of Ironman in general, but especially this course,

**[00:51:04]** 3.8 kilometers of swimming, I say it's always the same, it's always flat.

**[00:51:10]** Of course, it matters if you swim in a lake, with waves, or currents,

**[00:51:16]** if the water is warm or cold.

**[00:51:20]** All these are huge differences, but swimming is somewhat predictable.

**[00:51:28]** You have trained, so you know you'll swim between 1:10 and 1:20,

**[00:51:34]** which is about a 10-minute difference depending on tough or better conditions.

**[00:51:41]** Then comes the 180-kilometer cycling.

**[00:51:46]** 180 kilometers is a lot, almost like from Prague to Brno.

**[00:51:51]** And it really depends if you ride on flat terrain,

**[00:51:56]** then, as they say, you can ride 180 kilometers with your finger up your nose,

**[00:52:01]** which would be hard if I was pedaling with my hands, but that's the saying.

**[00:52:06]** or you're riding in the hills and specifically on 180 kilometers you climb 2,500 meters.

**[00:52:15]** The longest climb is 20 kilometers.

**[00:52:19]** During the race, you climb from sea level to about 1,300 meters above sea level.

**[00:52:26]** The course is definitely not easy.

**[00:52:30]** And that's how I approached the race.

**[00:52:32]** I had the vision that I could beat

**[00:52:36]** the time limit, because we have limits to finish these races,

**[00:52:42]** but it's important to mention that Ironman or long-distance triathlon in general

**[00:52:47]** is a sport primarily designed for healthy athletes.

**[00:52:51]** It doesn't account for disabled athletes.

**[00:52:53]** Although we do have categories like Handcycle,

**[00:52:56]** which don't differentiate types of disabilities,

**[00:52:59]** but let's leave that aside for now.

**[00:53:01]** But the same time limits apply.

**[00:53:04]** That means the swim, the 3.8 kilometers,

**[00:53:09]** must be completed within two hours and 20 minutes.

**[00:53:12]** In my case, it's one hour 15, one hour 20 plus 10 minutes in transition.

**[00:53:17]** By one hour 30, I need to be on the bike.

**[00:53:20]** That's quite a decent buffer.

**[00:53:22]** We have 50 minutes to spare.

**[00:53:25]** Then comes the cycling,

**[00:53:27]** which depending on conditions,

**[00:53:29]** can be fast, slow, easy, or hard.

**[00:53:33]** Today I felt it was a borderline case.

**[00:53:37]** I had some time to spare,

**[00:53:39]** but still, even though I gave it my all,

**[00:53:42]** I couldn't beat the limit.

**[00:53:46]** I finished about 15 minutes late.

**[00:53:50]** However, at that moment I was allowed to continue the race,

**[00:53:54]** which was very important to me,

**[00:53:57]** because I wanted to complete it.

**[00:54:00]** I was no longer aiming for a world champion title,

**[00:54:03]** but I wanted to push myself,

**[00:54:06]** overcome my handicap,

**[00:54:08]** and show that I can compete

**[00:54:11]** with healthy, non-disabled athletes,

**[00:54:14]** which is wonderful in long-distance triathlon,

**[00:54:17]** that we integrate among healthy athletes,

**[00:54:21]** where just by reading the individual disciplines,

**[00:54:25]** many people shake their heads and think,

**[00:54:28]** that it's impossible, especially when you're doing it in a wheelchair,

**[00:54:32]** so it becomes a big story and motivational subtext for yourself.

**[00:54:36]** And I was allowed to continue,

**[00:54:39]** knowing I was disqualified, but I could still finish.

**[00:54:43]** I completed the race just under 14 hours.

**[00:54:47]** And it's important to mention here,

**[00:54:49]** that the overall time limit is 17 hours.

**[00:54:52]** So I was 3 hours faster,

**[00:54:55]** but unfortunately disqualified from the cycling part,

**[00:54:59]** which obviously calls for some possible rule changes,

**[00:55:03]** but let's leave that aside for now.

**[00:55:06]** Nevertheless, I crossed the finish line

**[00:55:09]** so was it a success or a failure?

**[00:55:12]** A very tough question.

**[00:55:14]** For me, it was a success,

**[00:55:16]** showing the maximum I could,

**[00:55:19]** I managed to finish it,

**[00:55:21]** but the disqualification can be counted as a failure.

**[00:55:25]** And that's exactly the very fine line between

**[00:55:29]** what we can consider success in our lives

**[00:55:33]** and what we can consider failure.

**[00:55:36]** And I already mentioned once,

**[00:55:39]** that if we do things fully, the best we can,

**[00:55:44]** then even if it doesn't work out,

**[00:55:47]** we can leave with our heads held high

**[00:55:50]** and feel like winners.

**[00:55:55]** I say, where there's a will, there's a way,

**[00:55:58]** and that's actually the title of our breakfast today.

**[00:56:02]** And actually, learning from all the mistakes,

**[00:56:06]** I've made historically,

**[00:56:08]** all the failures I've experienced,

**[00:56:12]** and all the successes, every experience shapes us.

**[00:56:17]** Last year I qualified

**[00:56:22]** for one of the most iconic triathlons in the world,

**[00:56:28]** the legendary Ironman World Championship in Hawaii.

**[00:56:32]** I flew to Hawaii as a favorite.

**[00:56:36]** As the race favorite, which on one hand is nice,

**[00:56:39]** because you think, yeah, this will be it,

**[00:56:41]** but on the other hand, it drains a lot of inner energy,

**[00:56:46]** because you believe in it.

**[00:56:48]** But when something is expected from you

**[00:56:51]** and you take it very personally,

**[00:56:54]** it can feel a bit constraining.

**[00:56:57]** From the very moment I landed in Hawaii,

**[00:57:01]** I felt everything was wrong at that moment,

**[00:57:05]** because Hawaii really makes you imagine those beautiful palms,

**[00:57:10]** the sea, yeah, something good to eat.

**[00:57:14]** But I perceived it a bit differently.

**[00:57:16]** I felt broken after the trip,

**[00:57:20]** I put together my sports gear,

**[00:57:23]** started training, and now I was actually entering

**[00:57:26]** the places people see on TV,

**[00:57:29]** dream about, and idealize.

**[00:57:32]** And instead, I was training, let's say, on a busy highway,

**[00:57:36]** with truck after truck passing me by,

**[00:57:40]** which you expect, not all events

**[00:57:44]** and final preparations are always pleasant.

**[00:57:48]** It was nice on one side, the ocean,

**[00:57:51]** on the other side a selfish driver, then you ride 40 km,

**[00:57:54]** turn around, and you have it reversed.

**[00:57:56]** Otherwise, it's always the same.

**[00:57:58]** But mainly, I was in conditions that absolutely didn't fit.

**[00:58:01]** Almost 100% humidity and high temperature.

**[00:58:04]** The human body cools itself by,

**[00:58:08]** of course, sweating, and the moment you sweat,

**[00:58:12]** dry air evaporates the sweat,

**[00:58:15]** and that cools you down.

**[00:58:19]** But when you have high humidity,

**[00:58:21]** you probably know it before a storm,

**[00:58:24]** when it's just muggy, it just feels bad.

**[00:58:27]** You only sweat but don't cool down.

**[00:58:31]** Which, if you want to stay still for 12 hours,

**[00:58:34]** is really not ideal.

**[00:58:38]** And from the first moment in Hawaii, I fought with that humidity

**[00:58:42]** and told myself it was like 4 hours.

**[00:58:45]** Enough, I just can't do more, I was boiling.

**[00:58:48]** Then came the D-day, when just before the race,

**[00:58:51]** you probably know it, before an interview, before a tough decision,

**[00:58:55]** every second seems like an hour.

**[00:59:06]** It's exactly the same before the race.

**[00:59:09]** Now the focus is on the goal.

**[00:59:12]** You ask yourself, Jesus, why am I even doing this?

**[00:59:15]** But your body actually protects you a little bit

**[00:59:18]** and prepares your concentration for the goal.

**[00:59:21]** You see everything in a bad light,

**[00:59:24]** but then you're here and now, on race day, on interview day,

**[00:59:28]** when you focus your maximum concentration on the goal.

**[00:59:32]** I actually experienced this on Hawaii too.

**[00:59:36]** I got into the water, okay, but things didn’t go according to plan.

**[00:59:40]** I came out of the water maybe second, but I wanted to be first.

**[00:59:44]** It didn’t matter, but somehow the whole day went according to plan.

**[00:59:48]** I didn’t make a single mistake.

**[00:59:51]** I managed to balance on the edge between collapsing from the heat

**[00:59:56]** and sustainable performance, which was really hard for...

**[01:00:00]** 12 hours.

**[01:00:03]** During the cycling, I reached the dream first position in the race,

**[01:00:09]** which was a very interesting moment,

**[01:00:12]** because for 6 hours I pushed myself with blinders on

**[01:00:17]** and the goal ahead was to get to first place and set the race pace.

**[01:00:23]** Yeah, but at about the 90th kilometer of cycling,

**[01:00:28]** I got to the front. I was there now.

**[01:00:31]** But then I lost the goal I was chasing.

**[01:00:36]** To get to the front. And now I was at the front.

**[01:00:39]** And actually, what am I going to do now?

**[01:00:41]** Now I have to control my performance because I was really feeling bad.

**[01:00:46]** And now I saw on the map all the opponents,

**[01:00:51]** lined up like a train behind me. In what formation?

**[01:00:55]** And I thought, yeah, the Mexican is done, he looks bad.

**[01:00:59]** The American, wow, he looks good. He looked much better than I felt at that moment.

**[01:01:05]** Well, I kept first place in cycling with about a 20-minute lead.

**[01:01:11]** So you could say I could celebrate.

**[01:01:15]** But how I felt, that victory was really far away.

**[01:01:20]** It was 42 kilometers and 185 meters away.

**[01:01:24]** And in the first ten kilometers of running, I lost almost ten minutes of that lead.

**[01:01:32]** Which, when you start to realize it, doesn’t help much.

**[01:01:37]** Of course, I fought a mental crisis, I fought the pain, the struggle.

**[01:01:45]** There were moments when I felt it was really possible to finish.

**[01:01:50]** There were moments when I felt I was losing it.

**[01:01:53]** There were moments when I was overwhelmed with despair.

**[01:01:56]** There were moments when I hit the wall.

**[01:01:59]** It was an emotional, intense, dynamic race again.

**[01:02:04]** But I managed to finish it.

**[01:02:07]** I won by about five minutes, which seems like a lot,

**[01:02:13]** but at that moment it felt like two seconds.

**[01:02:16]** I was so focused on the goal that I didn’t even enjoy the finish line,

**[01:02:22]** which is usually about finding people on the track.

**[01:02:25]** You wave your hands, high-five the crowd, enjoy it.

**[01:02:30]** None of that was there.

**[01:02:32]** Tunnel vision, goal, gate.

**[01:02:35]** Usually, when I cross the gate, I just smile,

**[01:02:39]** shake hands because I appreciate what I achieved.

**[01:02:44]** But it’s not about emotions for me anymore.

**[01:02:47]** For me, the finish line is about emotions.

**[01:02:51]** This time, it wasn’t there.

**[01:02:53]** I crossed the gate and then it all hit me.

**[01:02:56]** I realized I had become the first Czech in history

**[01:03:00]** to win in Hawaii.

**[01:03:03]** I set a new Czech record.

**[01:03:05]** I surpassed myself.

**[01:03:07]** But it was finally over.

**[01:03:10]** I honestly don’t know.

**[01:03:12]** At that moment, what was stronger for me

**[01:03:15]** was a mix of emotions.

**[01:03:17]** And when I see the photos, it really brings back nostalgia.

**[01:03:23]** Because when I was still on the finish ramp,

**[01:03:26]** which you can see behind me,

**[01:03:28]** I actually started shouting at the top of my lungs.

**[01:03:33]** I had never experienced such a rush of emotions before.

**[01:03:38]** And it was truly powerful.

**[01:03:40]** Then came the moment when you feel immortal,

**[01:03:44]** then you just want to stretch out, lie down, do nothing.

**[01:03:50]** You say to yourself, finally it’s over,

**[01:03:52]** then you say, damn, I won Hawaii.

**[01:03:55]** And it all mixes like that.

**[01:03:57]** The next day was the award ceremony,

**[01:04:00]** where I received the championship title.

**[01:04:03]** It was an immense satisfaction,

**[01:04:07]** and it was the absolute peak

**[01:04:10]** of my sports career, my sports season.

**[01:04:14]** And at this moment, it's been a year,

**[01:04:19]** so it's time to start making new plans again,

**[01:04:22]** new goals and move forward.

**[01:04:25]** I want to thank you for your attention,

**[01:04:29]** and now it's up to our interactive discussion

**[01:04:33]** through the slide. Thank you.

**[01:04:43]** I'll come over to you and maybe even before

**[01:04:45]** we take the first questions,

**[01:04:48]** because there are questions about what actually replaces running and such,

**[01:04:50]** you can actually, we'll show it here,

**[01:04:52]** we're filming behind you and here we have the camera.

**[01:04:55]** He started completely logically with the first discipline, swimming.

**[01:04:58]** No need to imagine much,

**[01:05:02]** I just swim freestyle, when I swim in the water,

**[01:05:04]** you probably won't notice much difference.

**[01:05:06]** Usually, all of us triathletes swim

**[01:05:09]** in a long swimming wetsuit,

**[01:05:12]** which has the advantage of buoying us up.

**[01:05:14]** On the surface, we disabled athletes

**[01:05:16]** also often use so-called swimming orthoses,

**[01:05:19]** which are basically braces over the knee joints,

**[01:05:22]** just to keep the body in a straight position

**[01:05:25]** and to swim freestyle effectively.

**[01:05:29]** Regarding cycling,

**[01:05:32]** we use a handbike, handcycle,

**[01:05:34]** which is a specially designed sports equipment

**[01:05:37]** that uses the strength of the upper limbs to move forward.

**[01:05:41]** And although it looks completely different from a regular bike,

**[01:05:45]** believe me, there are actually many similarities.

**[01:05:49]** The main difference is that I lie on the bike,

**[01:05:53]** my legs are stretched along the bike,

**[01:05:56]** I pedal with my arms, pedaling synchronously like this,

**[01:05:59]** and then the same things apply, like on a bike we have

**[01:06:03]** a chainring, sprockets, derailleur, gears, brakes,

**[01:06:07]** we steer similarly to cyclists by leaning the front wheel,

**[01:06:12]** except the key difference is that we pedal with our arms.

**[01:06:17]** And then we get to running, which is funny,

**[01:06:21]** when a person in a wheelchair tells you they walk and run

**[01:06:30]** And that's not exactly the case.

**[01:06:32]** I still really use the fact that I go somewhere,

**[01:06:36]** that I walk and actually on the wheelchair moving forward

**[01:06:42]** you use push rims, driving rims.

**[01:06:46]** And the racing chair is basically a modification of that wheelchair,

**[01:06:51]** where just like on the regular one, that camera is on us,

**[01:06:54]** where just like on the wheelchair you have a driving rim,

**[01:06:58]** you also have a driving rim on the racing chair.

**[01:07:02]** To move forward you use the strength of your upper limbs again,

**[01:07:06]** but it's important to mention that there are no pedals,

**[01:07:09]** no clips, no gears.

**[01:07:12]** It's basically the same as when you run, you only have your legs,

**[01:07:17]** so in this case I only have my arms, wheels, and driving rims.

**[01:07:23]** I'll put it back now and we'll move on to questions, great.

**[01:07:29]** Just for those who can't quite imagine it,

**[01:07:34]** like when you've gone for a run and maybe done a marathon or something,

**[01:07:40]** Ironman is really like, you think,

**[01:07:43]** that's a bit crazy, you probably can't do it.

**[01:07:46]** And now imagine doing it all with your arms.

**[01:07:49]** It's just something I can't understand at all, it's huge.

**[01:07:55]** And there are lots of questions, so we've handled the first one,

**[01:07:59]** what replaces running in your Ironman category.

**[01:08:01]** Maybe say what it feels like when those guys are running

**[01:08:05]** and you overtake them and it's actually nice.

**[01:08:08]** It's really nice. First, swimming, you get some hits,

**[01:08:14]** because it's so physical, no one really notices

**[01:08:19]** that you don't walk, that you have some handicap.

**[01:08:21]** Still, swimming-wise, compared to able-bodied athletes,

**[01:08:27]** Cycling depends on conditions and the course,

**[01:08:31]** and generally we beat many disabled athletes,

**[01:08:35]** as they say, because arms aren't legs.

**[01:08:38]** And Nistorlans clearly proves that.

**[01:08:41]** Then comes the running, where we're on the chair.

**[01:08:44]** The wheels spin. Of course, it's important to mention,

**[01:08:48]** that before that we've done everything with our arms,

**[01:08:51]** but when you normally have a downhill,

**[01:08:54]** you keep running and it's tough for you.

**[01:08:58]** On the racing chair, the wheels do spin,

**[01:09:01]** so you gain speed. In that running part we're faster,

**[01:09:04]** Well, it's kind of like a form of catharsis,

**[01:09:07]** when you see it in the Ironman, I call it,

**[01:09:10]** that zombie mode where people just stagger around

**[01:09:13]** and can't go on, and suddenly you're like, come on baby.

**[01:09:16]** What annoyed you about cycling until then,

**[01:09:19]** you suddenly enjoy from the other side.

**[01:09:22]** But I deliberately focus on that because we caught you

**[01:09:26]** in an interesting state,

**[01:09:29]** since you're broken inside after the race.

**[01:09:33]** Where you actually can't race anymore.

**[01:09:36]** So try to talk about that.

**[01:09:39]** You sent me a photo that was very sad.

**[01:09:42]** Yeah, that's right. I actually mentioned that

**[01:09:45]** the line between success and failure is very thin.

**[01:09:48]** I described NIS in 2023,

**[01:09:51]** where finishing the race was important to me,

**[01:09:54]** even though I missed the cycling cut-off.

**[01:09:57]** And just a few days ago, the situation...

**[01:10:00]** repeated itself, I started again at the world championship,

**[01:10:04]** I wanted, as the reigning world champion,

**[01:10:08]** to defend the title, come back in full force,

**[01:10:12]** overcome my handicap and beat the limits.

**[01:10:16]** Everything went according to plan in preparation, I believed

**[01:10:20]** it was a realistic goal, but the race is

**[01:10:24]** incredibly tough, and due to several

**[01:10:28]** other circumstances, it just didn't work out,

**[01:10:32]** so I missed the cut-off by about 20-25 minutes this time,

**[01:10:36]** which in the context of about 11 hours is nothing,

**[01:10:40]** especially since the final run would have been relatively easy,

**[01:10:44]** but at this moment, I was not allowed

**[01:10:48]** to continue the race, which was quite

**[01:10:52]** a tough decision, I couldn't claim the title,

**[01:10:56]** because I didn't meet the limits, I understand all that,

**[01:11:00]** it's completely fair, but for the feeling,

**[01:11:04]** when you've really been fighting for 12 hours, well actually,

**[01:11:08]** almost 12 hours and you get used to it, then whether

**[01:11:12]** you fight for another two or three hours, it almost

**[01:11:16]** doesn't matter, and I knew I would finish.

**[01:11:20]** And then the officials made the decision that I couldn't

**[01:11:24]** continue, and that's how the iconic photo came about,

**[01:11:28]** just lying in a slump with my head like this.

**[01:11:32]** At that moment, it was to some extent a relief,

**[01:11:36]** because I thought, damn, I'll decide for myself, I don't have to,

**[01:11:40]** but of course it did hurt me, you know, but exactly

**[01:11:44]** this photo at that moment sparked a huge wave

**[01:11:48]** of emotions and actually support and even outrage,

**[01:11:52]** and right now I'm starting to work with people

**[01:11:56]** from Ironman's management to somehow change

**[01:12:00]** the limits for real, because it's not fair

**[01:12:04]** to have the same limits on the toughest courses

**[01:12:08]** as healthy athletes. And at this moment,

**[01:12:12]** Ironman's leadership really understands that.

**[01:12:16]** And if we manage to push through

**[01:12:20]** some change now, I will consider it a big

**[01:12:24]** sporting victory and a kind of consolation for the fact

**[01:12:28]** that I actually didn't make it and there was some internal disappointment.

**[01:12:32]** I'm leaving with my head held high, I gave it my all,

**[01:12:36]** but it hurts.

**[01:12:38]** I like that when we talked about it, you didn't say

**[01:12:42]** this is for you, but that you want to open the sport to others

**[01:12:46]** and that's why this needs to happen.

**[01:12:50]** That's right, because if we talk about the types of disabilities,

**[01:12:54]** it really depends on the level of the spinal segment

**[01:12:58]** where the spinal cord is damaged. If you have spinal lesions in the neck,

**[01:13:02]** you might not be able to move your upper limbs, or only poorly.

**[01:13:06]** If it's somewhere around here, your trunk muscles might not work,

**[01:13:10]** but your arms are fine. I belong to the athletes

**[01:13:14]** who have spinal lesions affecting trunk muscle function,

**[01:13:18]** so I am among the more disabled within Ironman.

**[01:13:22]** And since I now have about 55 half Ironmans,

**[01:13:27]** around 13 full Ironmans and several titles, I think

**[01:13:32]** I'm the person who can open up these topics,

**[01:13:37]** because I'd like the sport to keep developing

**[01:13:42]** and keep opening up, not just be about, well, why would I do Ironman,

**[01:13:46]** if I can't meet the limit. Of course, it's always a question not only of the limit,

**[01:13:51]** but also your performance. I think the overall limit is fine.

**[01:13:57]** It has to be a challenge and always motivating.

**[01:14:01]** But some small adjustment and modernization of the current state is good.

**[01:14:06]** And I believe it would attract more athletes,

**[01:14:10]** more relative crazies like me.

**[01:14:13]** Katka is curious how, in the toughest battles with yourself,

**[01:14:17]** you find beauty and motivation, and what do you think influences

**[01:14:20]** how much willpower a person has or doesn't have? That's a great question, thank you.

**[01:14:24]** That's a really tough question. I think that our willpower

**[01:14:29]** is to some extent described by the passion with which we do things.

**[01:14:36]** Whether we truly want to do those things and if we see any meaning in them.

**[01:14:42]** In a race, many times I would say no, I won't continue,

**[01:14:46]** I see no point in this, this is the last race.

**[01:14:50]** But then you cross the finish line and suddenly realize

**[01:14:55]** it does have meaning, because you inspire people, push yourself forward,

**[01:15:00]** and do something special. And as I said, passion is what

**[01:15:04]** fuels us. How to find energy in tough moments.

**[01:15:09]** It's a very difficult topic. Generally, I don't like giving up

**[01:15:16]** and with the experience I have, or everyone gains experience,

**[01:15:21]** we build some tolerance for frustration.

**[01:15:25]** For example, this race didn't go perfectly for me either,

**[01:15:31]** because the first kilometer of swimming was great, then suddenly something was wrong.

**[01:15:37]** I started feeling dizzy and sick.

**[01:15:40]** I felt like I was swimming the worst swim of my life.

**[01:15:44]** Then I got out of the water and a friend said to me, hey, good, one fifteen.

**[01:15:47]** And I said, well, okay, that's probably good.

**[01:15:50]** But I thought, fifty-fifty, I won't give up now on the cycling.

**[01:15:54]** It was a tough moment, but the vision of the goal was still there.

**[01:16:00]** And when we can imagine our goal, what we want to achieve,

**[01:16:07]** that becomes the driving force in tough moments.

**[01:16:11]** Of course, we also have to rise above the fact

**[01:16:14]** that things might not go as planned, that it might hurt.

**[01:16:18]** In Ironman, it's so advanced that I say, okay, it hurts now,

**[01:16:23]** but maybe in an hour it will pass.

**[01:16:26]** It's a bit crazy, but that's how it really is.

**[01:16:31]** You ride the first four hours, basically climbing to about thirteen hundred meters above sea level,

**[01:16:39]** and then you know that even though you're at the top, there's still a hilly section

**[01:16:47]** In my mind, I had that okay, four hours uphill,

**[01:16:51]** I'll enjoy that, and that went well.

**[01:16:54]** So I climbed the hill and suddenly you switch gears.

**[01:16:57]** Good, I've made it, I'm on the hill, now the next three hours will be tough,

**[01:17:01]** and then I'll coast down.

**[01:17:03]** You always need to find something positive in it and not dwell on what's wrong,

**[01:17:08]** because everything eventually passes.

**[01:17:12]** And when there's that passion, that goal, some visualization of the dream,

**[01:17:17]** it helps us overcome crises.

**[01:17:21]** Visualization can help us even in the moment,

**[01:17:25]** when we imagine how great it will be once we achieve it.

**[01:17:30]** Have you ever encountered, Honza, healthy athletes considering

**[01:17:34]** your participation in a race unfair,

**[01:17:37]** for example, giving you a spot on Evo because you're competition?

**[01:17:42]** They haven't. It's really nice, no,

**[01:17:47]** I've never felt that, especially in cycling,

**[01:17:51]** where healthy cyclists usually come up to me,

**[01:17:55]** and there are moments when they say, 'You are my hero,' which is great. But then in running,

**[01:17:58]** I've never encountered anyone thinking it's easier.

**[01:18:01]** Even though running might be considered easier, not after cycling.

**[01:18:08]** No, but by chance, this season I experienced something amazing.

**[01:18:13]** I was at a smaller race in Poland where I had no category,

**[01:18:18]** I just started in the regular age group.

**[01:18:23]** The race suited me, it was fast. I was third

**[01:18:28]** among healthy athletes. It was really funny because

**[01:18:32]** the organizing team had changed, they didn't know me,

**[01:18:36]** and then it said: the third position, Jan Tománek from Czech Republic.

**[01:18:40]** Then the podium brothers, the guys ahead of me,

**[01:18:46]** were very surprised. So it was a nice moment.

**[01:18:51]** Unfortunately, I had more interview time than the first place,

**[01:18:56]** so maybe he wasn't happy. But overall, there was respect,

**[01:19:01]** especially when the athletes come from the same sport.

**[01:19:07]** There's a lot of that. I don't blame the same backland.

**[01:19:11]** Do doctors give you hope that, maybe through science,

**[01:19:13]** you'll be able to stand again someday?

**[01:19:17]** I think science is advancing a lot in this area.

**[01:19:19]** But right now, there's nothing that would bring walking back to me,

**[01:19:23]** so it leaves me pretty indifferent.

**[01:19:29]** I think when the time comes, I'll deal with it.

**[01:19:33]** But then there's the other side.

**[01:19:37]** When someone asks if I'm satisfied, if I live a fulfilled life.

**[01:19:41]** Yesterday I might have said no, but today I say yes again.

**[01:19:45]** That's life optimism.

**[01:19:50]** Because I don't feel that my disability takes anything from me,

**[01:19:52]** it actually pushes me forward.

**[01:19:57]** What I love, what I mostly think makes sense, I inspire those around me,

**[01:20:00]** and I believe I live a full life.

**[01:20:11]** So I'm not really focused on it now, but I can't judge how I would decide if such a situation arose.

**[01:20:20]** I don't know, but I've started to enjoy the sadomasochistic grind of doing Iron Many, and Ozayku is great.

**[01:20:27]** Zdeněk asks if your sparring partner is a pro or a well-trained amateur, and if he can keep up with you.

**[01:20:35]** Well, on cross-country skis right now, he's kind of, I'd say, almost semi-pro,

**[01:20:40]** because he's heading in the right direction and starting to do Iron Many.

**[01:20:45]** But when it comes to cross-country skiing, the handicap still means

**[01:20:53]** I won't be that fast, so he can keep up with me.

**[01:20:56]** There are moments when he pushes hard, like on flat terrain, but on climbs I get to rest.

**[01:21:02]** It's the same on the bike.

**[01:21:04]** I'm surprised, I've always been most interested in the technical part,

**[01:21:10]** how it works and how you actually glide.

**[01:21:13]** Try to describe cross-country skiing, how you have to maintain balance.

**[01:21:21]** People might imagine you just sit down and it's easy,

**[01:21:25]** but it's not that easy.

**[01:21:27]** Well, if you're not moving, then it's easy, you just sit.

**[01:21:31]** It's actually more comfortable than a wheelchair.

**[01:21:33]** But an important thing, you actually saw it in one photo.

**[01:21:37]** Imagine I have some kind of frame, a seat I sit in.

**[01:21:43]** It's very important to mention that my knees are higher than my butt,

**[01:21:48]** which helps my unstable torso somewhat replace the function of those muscles.

**[01:21:54]** Then it's simple: I have two skis next to me,

**[01:21:58]** on which I sit in that seat.

**[01:22:00]** Then I have two poles, and then comes the hard work.

**[01:22:03]** Because it's 90 kilometers of double poling.

**[01:22:05]** Exactly, you just do double poling.

**[01:22:07]** Of course, there are moments on climbs where you can't rest by,

**[01:22:13]** for example, herringbone stepping, that just doesn't work.

**[01:22:17]** Which is a big problem on a red slope.

**[01:22:19]** It's quite a problem, especially when you want to go there, but they go that way.

**[01:22:23]** So those are some tougher moments.

**[01:22:26]** But this is actually quite simple technical equipment,

**[01:22:31]** which is of course specific, including braking.

**[01:22:34]** It works by me kneeling down and braking with the thumb edge of the pole,

**[01:22:39]** just by pressing it against the snow.

**[01:22:42]** Anyone who skis knows it really depends on the snow conditions.

**[01:22:47]** So in reality, you either brake or pretend to brake,

**[01:22:52]** but it still keeps going.

**[01:22:54]** And then comes probably the worst moment,

**[01:22:57]** that at speeds over 40 km/h the ski becomes significantly more stable.

**[01:23:05]** Because there's some centrifugal force involved,

**[01:23:08]** So the moment you're like on the track and it starts to speed up,

**[01:23:12]** you're basically nailed down.

**[01:23:14]** Then comes the moment when you maybe don't know what to do and want to fall to stop.

**[01:23:19]** But you can't.

**[01:23:21]** Because it's so stable that you actually can't fall,

**[01:23:25]** and if you do, it really hurts at that speed of 40.

**[01:23:29]** So it's a very specific feeling.

**[01:23:34]** And it's no joke.

**[01:23:38]** There are many things like that.

**[01:23:40]** Zuzana asks, and this is an area I also wanted to cover.

**[01:23:44]** How can a handicapped person start from zero,

**[01:23:47]** to be paid for doing sports?

**[01:23:49]** Is it mostly about winning some competitions?

**[01:23:51]** Can you explain how the financing of that sport actually works?

**[01:23:54]** Right now, it's very important to distinguish between Paralympic sport

**[01:23:59]** and non-Paralympic sport.

**[01:24:01]** This year, within the Paralympic movement,

**[01:24:05]** handicapped athletes who already have some medals and achievements

**[01:24:07]** can actually become professionals through the government sports center

**[01:24:10]** and get paid for it.

**[01:24:14]** But this does not apply to non-Paralympic athletes.

**[01:24:17]** And that's me, for example.

**[01:24:20]** Right now, I have the advantage and some marketing value

**[01:24:22]** from the successes I've had.

**[01:24:26]** But when someone first gets into a wheelchair and wants to start sports,

**[01:24:29]** it's very hard because you have to deal with the wheelchair,

**[01:24:34]** housing modifications, a car, hand controls in the car.

**[01:24:38]** The money really flows out fast.

**[01:24:42]** And often there is no money left for sports.

**[01:24:45]** I started about 20 years ago,

**[01:24:49]** and I don't think there was more money then, probably less,

**[01:24:53]** but it's about passion and will.

**[01:24:57]** Having dreams and plans and starting to find added value

**[01:25:01]** in what I do or what we do,

**[01:25:07]** and actually monetizing it.

**[01:25:10]** So right now, I operate basically on advertising.

**[01:25:13]** Every season is always a bit uncertain,

**[01:25:17]** whether I manage to secure enough partners

**[01:25:20]** to whom I basically rent advertising space.

**[01:25:28]** So we're waving at those cameras. In case anyone,

**[01:25:31]** like, I don't know, Škodovka or someone, wanted to,

**[01:25:35]** well, here's the banner.

**[01:25:37]** That's right. Basically, in the beginning, it was just about,

**[01:25:40]** me having the banner. Let's say, the space.

**[01:25:43]** Over time, I think, or I always want,

**[01:25:46]** for collaborations to be mutual.

**[01:25:48]** So it's about the possibility of motivational workshops,

**[01:25:51]** events, experiential activities, and actually working with the brand.

**[01:25:55]** And nowadays, companies know how to use meaningful collaborations,

**[01:25:59]** which I think is great.

**[01:26:03]** So my path, or the professionalization,

**[01:26:08]** is not only about being a successful athlete,

**[01:26:11]** but also being a relatively capable sports manager.

**[01:26:15]** I'll connect two questions here. Jana asks what the next challenge will be.

**[01:26:18]** And also someone who didn't sign, which is fine.

**[01:26:21]** Have you ever considered participating in the Olympics?

**[01:26:23]** I just saw this— you were a handbike cyclist.

**[01:26:27]** I'll start earlier with the question about the Paralympics.

**[01:26:31]** I was close back in 2010 when I was focused on cycling.

**[01:26:36]** At that time, cycling was the driving force.

**[01:26:40]** But nowadays, I don't think about the Paralympics at all,

**[01:26:44]** because endurance sports aren't on the Paralympic program.

**[01:26:49]** Is it a classic triathlon there?

**[01:26:50]** Yeah, it's classic or classic.

**[01:26:52]** I call it a kid's triathlon; it's actually a sprint triathlon.

**[01:26:55]** 750 meters swimming, 20 km cycling, and 5 km running.

**[01:26:59]** At a certain point in my career, I actually focused on that.

**[01:27:04]** But my heart belongs to the long triathlon

**[01:27:08]** and pushing myself alongside able-bodied athletes.

**[01:27:12]** And that brings us to the next challenge,

**[01:27:15]** which is, of course, winning more titles and pushing the limits.

**[01:27:20]** That's nice, but maybe it’s starting to be,

**[01:27:23]** like in cycling, a bit more about ego.

**[01:27:27]** And I just want to keep moving forward, and by chance,

**[01:27:31]** at the championship, successful or not,

**[01:27:35]** I had an important conversation

**[01:27:39]** with someone from Ironman

**[01:27:43]** about them confirming or supporting my effort

**[01:27:47]** to participate in such a beautiful double next year.

**[01:27:53]** You're going to like this. It's almost a conventional thing.

**[01:27:57]** Ironman Kalmar in Sweden and Ironman Copenhagen in Denmark.

**[01:28:03]** Just Ironman like any other.

**[01:28:05]** The courses aren't as brutal as in Hawaii or like today, for example.

**[01:28:10]** But what's beautiful about it is that Kalmar is on Saturday

**[01:28:14]** and Copenhagen is on Sunday.

**[01:28:17]** And at this moment, that's kind of like.

**[01:28:20]** You can sleep a little.

**[01:28:22]** Yeah, after I finish there, I can even get some sleep.

**[01:28:26]** How do you recover?

**[01:28:28]** How do I recover? Basically, you just have to get through the pain.

**[01:28:33]** That's about it. There's no way around it; after the race, it hurts.

**[01:28:39]** It depends if it's a short triathlon or a half Ironman

**[01:28:44]** or a full Ironman, and what the conditions were like.

**[01:28:47]** Generally, if it's a cold race,

**[01:28:50]** I'm more drained, like I could eat everything,

**[01:28:54]** but I'm not as sore.

**[01:28:57]** And like now with Ponys, where I overdid it somehow,

**[01:29:01]** it's like for the first two days I was barely able

**[01:29:06]** to eat or drink. Yesterday I started getting back to normal

**[01:29:11]** and now I expect that within five days after the race

**[01:29:16]** the current pain will fade, and now I mainly need to recover my mind.

**[01:29:21]** So now it's about completely switching off for a while,

**[01:29:25]** and then it will be back.

**[01:29:26]** Are you planning to train handicapped children?

**[01:29:28]** Wow, handicapped children, I don't know if I'll train them.

**[01:29:32]** Generally, I wouldn't want to get into the discipline of training children.

**[01:29:37]** I like to motivate them, inspire them.

**[01:29:42]** I'm happy to organize an event for them. All of that, yes.

**[01:29:46]** But training children is a discipline I really admire,

**[01:29:55]** but it carries a huge amount of responsibility.

**[01:30:00]** I'd rather work with adults who are struggling with their life role or want help with movement as such,

**[01:30:11]** want to integrate it into their life. I'd gladly be their coach, help them with training regimes.

**[01:30:18]** But to train children, I just don't feel ready; the responsibility is enormous.

**[01:30:25]** Honza, I'll end it here now. Thank you very much for sharing, for the beautiful story. Once again, thank you.

**[01:30:33]** It was great.

**[01:30:41]** There are tons of questions, we know that, I kind of expected it, but before we get to what you can do with them,

**[01:30:50]** please try to give us some feedback, talk about what you heard today

**[01:30:59]** and what stuck in your mind, or just what you realized.

**[01:31:04]** I keep hearing, 'Wow, I’ll never learn this here,' and last time with Broňa, the English was crazy,

**[01:31:09]** If you think it's no longer for me, I hope this motivates you, that incredible things can be done.

**[01:31:15]** And that truly, absolutely everything can be achieved.

**[01:31:19]** If you want some guidance, there's a PDF you can download with questions to help you with this.

**[01:31:27]** Reflection is simply important, and Honza and I will definitely look again at Brain and Breakfast Digestive,

**[01:31:37]** so if you want to ask the questions we didn’t get to, or chat with people,

**[01:31:44]** besides Honza, others I’ll invite as well, I definitely recommend visiting Brain and Breakfast Digestive.

**[01:31:50]** It will be on the 29th, during lunch, so if you just want to have lunch with us, I think it’s a nice chat.

**[01:31:59]** I’m personally really looking forward to it.

**[01:32:02]** Brain and Breakfast Business continues, and we’ll focus on other topics you see here.

**[01:32:08]** For me, one of the most important is Cognitive Safety. Pepa Holí is back.

**[01:32:12]** He’ll come after half a year to share what’s new, and I’m a bit scared it’s moved somewhere completely different again.

**[01:32:18]** School of Life with Ján Košturek is another project we have within Red Button.

**[01:32:24]** I’m glad Phil Knight and his art of winning appeared as book of the month, it fits perfectly here.

**[01:32:34]** It’s the story of Nike. I devoured it really, really fast. It’s a fantastic book,

**[01:32:40]** so if you want a tip, go to rbkniha.cz and the current Phil Knight book is something I highly recommend.

**[01:32:47]** And what can you look forward to next? On October 30th, with Pavlína Louženská, we’ll explore trends.

**[01:32:59]** We’ll look at what young people are into now, what’s happening, what hype is, what cycles and trends are.

**[01:33:05]** An interesting topic, a person deeply involved in OGITO, so a completely different subject,

**[01:33:13]** opening new bubbles. So once again, Honza, thank you so much for coming, thanks for the story.

**[01:33:20]** Stay loyal to us, come to Magenta for another breakfast or stop by Brain & Breakfast Digestive.

**[01:33:26]** Take care, thanks, bye and see you.

**[01:33:29]** Thanks, see you.

**[01:33:56]** Subtitles created by JohnyX