Javelin thrower Špotáková describes ‘path to Olympic gold’ in new book
2008 was a good year for Czech javelin thrower Barbora Špotáková. In the course of one season, the 27-year-old took Olympic gold in a nail-biting final in Beijing, smashed the women’s javelin world record and was voted Czech Athlete of the Year for the second time running. On Tuesday, Barbora Špotáková, who is also the World champion in the women’s javelin, released a book telling her story so far. After the launch, I asked her which of the many successes she had enjoyed last year meant the most to her:
It has often been written about this final that it was one of the most gripping, interesting, finals in the discipline for many, many years. Is that what it felt like as a competitor, or was it just extremely frustrating to be lagging in second place throughout?
“It was especially emotional, especially after I won, and not just for me, but for all of the Czech team, because everybody was crying and I was crying. You don’t know what to do – it isn’t just like you are celebrating, it is rather that only then do you realize that you have done something big and now you start to realize what things were like before. And that is maybe what I have tried to write in this book, my path to the Olympic gold medal.”
“I don’t think that I have changed a lot. But maybe the surroundings changed a little bit. People behave towards me a little bit differently, but I don’t like this, because why should people change the way they approach me if I haven’t changed? So that is a little strange. But especially what I see - the biggest difference - is when I walk down the street, people recognise me. That is the biggest change, but I haven’t changed, I hope not, and I don’t think my friends would say that I have changed. So I hope I haven’t.”
Okay, but what do you think about the fact that, like it or not, you have perhaps become a bit of a national hero, at least for a while?
“Umm, well, you feel that through sport you can make people happy, and very happy. You have a power. That’s what I found out last year, that through sport you have the power to make people happy. And that is something amazing. That is what the most beautiful thing about this is.”
What is left for you now to achieve? What do you still want to achieve?
“Well, I think the world record came at the end of the season, which is not when you are in top shape. So, there is still, from my point of view, a way for me to throw a little longer. So, I hope that the world record is not yet definite. So, that is the first thing, and the other thing is, as I told you, making people happy. And if you are healthy and winning, you really enjoy this. So, the motivation is to compete and make people happy again.”
