Marek Pospisek is one of the biggest
names of the MTBO international scene. In our minds is still the duel fight against
the Austrian Tobias Breitschädel for the world title in the Sprint
race, that he lost for two single seconds. But this is just one of
the topics of a long talk, where we can also have his opinions about
the Athletes' Commission, the present moment of MTB Orienteering and
the future. A future that can mean a historical gold medal for the
Czech team or, later in the autumn, a victory in the World Cup... in
Portugal.
I start by asking you who is Marek
Pospisek?
Marek Pospisek (M. P.) - I was
born in 1989, 8th of April. I live in Brno (2nd biggest city in Czech
Republic). I studied economics. Now I am an entrepreneur and
co-founder of WeLoveMail (welovemail.com), focusing on marketing and
business development. I like innovations and hi-tech technologies.
I’m always trying to get to know people who can think 'out of the
box'. I really love good food, beer, wine and coffee.
When did you find out that your
future would be as a MTB orienteer?
M. P. - At first I was purely a
foot orienteer. Then I heard about MTBO as a punk orienteering
discipline. In 2003 I rode my first MTBO event and I really enjoyed
it. And of course I won in my class :-D
What do you see in this discipline
that makes it so special?
M. P. - People, speed, fast
decisions, real connection with nature, punk/free taste of the
discipline (at least in orienteering sports family), parties (at
Czech Cup).
Will you tell me something about
your daily routine?
M. P. - Daily routine? I don't
have anything like that. I am a really lazy person :-D. In winter, I
seek xc skiing, running, gyms and spinning. I also ski down the
slopes and next winter I want to try alpine skiing. Recently I've
taken a liking to long runs by classic technique. I've just run the
Tartu Marathon in Estonia. In summer, I ride at least a half of my
training time on a road bike. I ride it either to train my technique
or map orientation. In the final stage I'm training for speed
improvements.
What does it mean to be a MTB
orienteer in the Czech Republic?
M. P. - Czechia is probably the
best place for MTBO. I would like to explain why, shortly:
Approximately 300 competitors are attended in each one of Czech MTBO
Cups. The cup counts 18 individual races in a season. We have, of
course, relays' and teams' race. It’s about 10 MTBO weekends in a
year. Participants of different long distance score races are counted
to thousands. Terrains are various in Czechia - from flat to hilly
roads, from relatively thin to thick road networks. I think there are
also a lot of mapped terrains for Foot-O that just haven't been used
for MTBO. There is no professional MTBO biker in Czechia. Everyone's
doing some other job for a living or they are studying. You can get a
sponsor only if you're racing road bicycle races also. But it's
always a material support only. It's a little bit different with the
national team. They're getting money from the Union which is getting
it mostly from various government resources. So the representation
luckily has enough resources for us to ride the whole World Cup and
Championship without the need of paying it on our own.
Looking at the special moments
you’ve been through in MTB orienteering until now, could you
mention the most thrilling one or two?
M. P. - The first moment was in
Denmark on Junior World Championship where I had diarrhea and fever
the whole night before middle, which was my main goal of the season.
I felt terrible in the morning. But I said to myself I have to bring
my A game. Luckily I haven’t had my legs fully ruined and I managed
to concentrate on the race just fine. Even though it wasn’t my
fastest day, that flawless effort was enough for reaching the first
position. And the second moment was probably two months later on the
Championship in Israel. On the contrary I was totally over-motivated
on the middle and I was doing silly things from the start. On the way
to the 4th control I didn’t notice a rock about meter and a half
tall and jumped over it – well, felt over it. That have damaged my
frame, but we didn’t noticed that till the day before relay race.
And just during the relay race it happened. I was riding my last
segment and two controls ahead of the spectators area I was in the
lead. Sadly in one abrupt turn the frame broke. Luckily right behind
me was Lubos Tomecek from the second Czech relay team that made it on
the 2nd place in the end. I finished the race by running on the 8th
position.
Going back to August 21st, 2012, in
Hungary, what did you feel when you realized that for two single
seconds you lost the opportunity to win the first gold medal of the
Czech Republic's history in a WOC?
M. P. - Shit happens :-D I lost
the gold medal but I got my first individual medal in senior
category. That was my goal. Luckily no other Czech in Hungary did
manage to get that gold, so I can still be first :-D
You have just been appointed to the
IOF Mountain Bike Orienteering Athletes’ Commission. How did you
see the invitation and what were the reasons that led you to accept
the position?
M. P. - When Michi offered me
this chance, she said she’d be glad if there was someone from
Czechia in the commission. I refused that offer at first, but then I
thought about it and realized it’s a great opportunity to affect
and form something.
Is being so young an advantage or a
disadvantage for such a task?
M. P. - I think it’s an
advantage. Respectively it’s a big advantage for the whole
commission, because no one else has been through the system of youth
and junior contests. I can have a different point of view and that’s
important for the work in the commission.
If you had the power to decide, what
would you change in the MTB orienteering?
M. P. - I don't like the effort
to get MTBO or the orienteering in general onto TV. We simply are not
an attractive sport to watch. You have to experience MTBO, that's
where its strength is. That's why I'd like to insist on getting
orienteering to be offered in the most various forms as an activity.
Not through media. Media will find orienteering when its time comes.
And if the necessary condition for getting it onto Olympic sports
list should be the devaluation of this discipline, I am against to
see some orienteering sport in the Olympic Games.
At the beginning of the season,
which are your main competitive goals? It will be this year that we
are going to see Marek in the podium's highest place?
M. P. - As I said earlier, the
first gold medal for Czech Republic can still be mine :-) We’ll see
how much I’m going to be able to combine training with work, that
is probably going to change a lot during March. So we will see.
You will return to Portugal in
October, I'm sure, for the final round of the World Cup. What do you
expect to happen? Winning the World Cup here?
M. P. - I
would definitely like to come for the final round of the World Cup.
Perhaps even to win it. Memories of WOC 2010 are positive. Races were
really well arranged. Hard terrains, good maps and track
construction. I really liked Portugal as a country and for its
culture. Unfortunately the injury that happened to Hanka Dolezalova
is another memory that is strongly settled in my mind. Sadly it’s a
thing that can happen anywhere in the world.
Thumbs up for organizers for their work
and I hope that autumn races are going to be as good as the World
Championship 2010.
Eight years after Nove Mesto na
Morave, the Czech Republic will receive the WOC 2015. Although we are
still at a huge distance from the event, I ask you to give us a
preview of what we can expect.
M. P. - We can expect really
nice and interesting terrains nearby the Liberec city. Also the
courses will be hard and tricky and everything will be going
perfectly smoothly on the organizers’ side. And finally we can be
looking forward to the best beer in the world :-)
Joaquim Margarido