Sojour Sojourn
November 23, 2009
LOOK there!” urges Petr, the driver taking me from my three- hour exploration of the perfectly preserved medieval town of Cesky Krumlov to points east. “See that billboard. Beer.
Czech soup!” Not even a full day into my Central European sojourn, I
am immersed in the history and cheer of the Old Continent.
Arriving in Brno—the country’s second-largest city and capital of
Moravia—quirky juxtapositions of function and architecture are all
around. I want to survey the town from above, so I start along the
inclined promenades leading up to Spilberk Castle—originally a
Habsburg palace, then a fortress and a prison, and now the city’s
crown. Midway up the path I spot a trio of chin-up bars,
one of which could easily double for a gymnastics high
bar.
Most of Brno’s main attractions are in the town center
below, so, satisfied with the navigational enlightenment
yielded by the castle’s panoramic vantage point, I make
my way down. Detouring from Masarykova, one of
Brno’s main pedestrian arteries, I pay my respects (and
regards) to the Capuchin monks who have been
lying in mummified repose in a monastery crypt
since the 17th century. Pedestrians mingle and
chatter among the stalls that temporarily clutter
nearby Freedom Square for Brno’s annual
Christmas market. A centuries-old plague memori-
al juts forlornly above the celebratory racket.
Brno’s proud history includes its distinction as
the only Central European town to successfully
defend itself against the Swedes during the Thirty
Years’ War in the 1600s. And while it may be a
stretch to compare recent athletic struggles to
this kind of valor, I discover that two-time gym-
nastics Olympian Ja n a K o m rs k o v a and the
“
Freedom
Square
in Brno
Jana
Komrskova
View from castle hill at Cesky
Krumlov, a perfectly preserved
medieval town in the Czech Republic.
rest of the small but determined Czech women’s national team are
waging a peaceful but determined battle to keep their own tradition
alive.
Just a few blocks north of Freedom Square, the Sokol Brno I club
where the team trains has a scruffy, careworn exterior. Athletes and
coaches filter inside and through the dark corridors that lead to facilities
for several competitive sports, a sauna and a restaurant. Once down-
stairs, though, you are in gymnastics territory. Trophies and photos
adorn a display case on the left side of the hallway. Posters of the
club’s recent stars—Komrskova, Kristyna Palesova, Jana Sikulova
and Eva Verbova—line a corridor that leads to a simple white door
labeled “women’s training gym.” Once inside, you pass through a tidy
warm-up gym and enter the training hall, a spacious warehouse of a
place with high ceilings and enormous glass windows along the
end wall. Komrskova shows me the layout, and then lays out the
precarious state of Czech gymnastics as we chat in the restaurant
before her workout.
“The problem is money, like everywhere, but here it’s an
extremely bad situation,” says the 26-year-old Jana, a popular
and charismatic personality on the World Cup circuit. “That’s
why we don’t have a lot of gymnasts. There is no money for
the clubs, so no money for the coaches, so no children and no
gymnasts. It’s a very simple circle, but it’s still a
circle.”
The circle appears tight, though. Only a few
gymnasts are training today, but the atmosphere
is friendly and industrious. Kristyna, restricted to
conditioning exercises on the sidelines following
a knee injury, shouts encouragements of “Poyj”
(“Come on!” roughly) to a male teammate as he
works through his floor routine. She quickly redi-
rects her vocal attention toward the uneven bars,
where the “other” Jana (Sikulova) swings a dozen
consecutive toe-on handstands. Petite Petra
Fialova goes through her trick-packed beam set
without a misstep (see p. 50 for more on Fialova).
Such signs of cooperation and productivity do
not seem to appease Komrskova, who says the sit-
uation became critical following the Sydney 2000
Olympics. When the Czech team failed to qualify
for those Games, she says, sponsorships ended and
money evaporated. Coaches left for neighboring
countries. The juniors became seniors, and left
nobody to fill their places. Today, Jana says, there
are perhaps a dozen juniors in the entire republic.
“I’d love to say we have a lot of good girls,” she says wistfully. “I would
love to finish gymnastics and say, ‘Goodbye, good luck, girls. There are
several of you who are beautiful, perfect gymnasts.’ I don’t want to fin-
ish now because nobody’s there. I go to meets and show that the
Czech Republic is here. Even in a small country we have someone who
can show you that we have good gymnastics.”
The country’s gymnastics future
is brighter to men’s coach Petr
Hedvavany, a Brno native who
coached in the U.S. for five years.
“I think we have enough gymnasts
to make a team, but it won’t be
strong enough to compete as a
team,” Petr explains. “We need to
focus on individual results.” Petr
adds that Czech coaches now
working in neighboring countries
can still help their countrymen. “I
think the contacts will help the
whole region to move the level
up,” Petr says.
While finances fail and coaching
departs, faith prevails in Brno.
“I don’t want to finish
now because nobody’s
[coming up to take my
place],” Komrskova
says. “I go to meets
and show that the
Czech Republic is
here. Even in a small
country we have someone who can show …
good gymnastics.”
