Judoka Lukáš Krpálek hopes for third title at Paris Olympics
Lukáš Krpálek, the current Olympic heavyweight judo champion since his victory in Tokyo in 2021, will be competing at the Olympic Games once again in a few days’ time. Aware of the high expectations surrounding him, the most successful judoka in the country’s history is trying to stay grounded as the tournament approaches.
Having returned from a final preparation camp in Japan, the country where he won the biggest title of his career three years ago, Lukáš Krpálek appeared serene in Prague on Thursday when receiving the outfit that he and the other members of the Czech Olympic delegation will wear during the Games’ opening ceremony in Paris this Friday. This serenity is largely purposeful – Krpálek says he is trying to approach the fourth Olympic Games of his career with equanimity.
“Of course there will be some pressure, but I try not to think about it too much. I'm going to Paris with the intention of doing my best and if I perform well, then I could have a chance of getting a medal. I know what the expectations are but I don't want to stress myself out. I'm going to the Games simply to make the most of it.”
The Czech judo champion from Jihlava already has one of the finest records in the history of the discipline. He is the only judoka ever to have been crowned Olympic champion, world champion and European champion at the same time and to have been world number one in both the over 100 kg and under 100 kg weight divisions.
Having won his first Olympic title in Rio in 2016 in the light heavyweight (under 100kg) category and his second in Tokyo in 2021 in the heavyweight (over 100kg) category, he deliberated for a long time over which weight class to compete under in the upcoming Paris Olympics. However, exhausted by the incessant weight loss regimes which he had to follow to compete in the under 100kg weight class, the judoka finally decided to listen to his body and opted for the higher division:
“When I was in the under 100 kg weight class, I weighed between 108 and 109 kilos. Losing the necessary weight posed no problem. It's just that if you do it once, twice, three times, then your body starts to react and tells you to stop. The fourth time, my weight suddenly jumped to 116-117 kilos. I gained 15 kilos in the space of two nights. It was obvious that my body was under extreme stress, and these are extremes that I no longer want to experience. I also don't want to serve as a bad example for young people who are training and that's why I no longer try to lose weight at any cost to get into a weight class.”
If Krpálek manages to follow on from his 2016 and 2021 successes and wins a gold medal in Paris too, the double Olympic champion will become a three-time Olympic champion. Friday August 2 is the eagerly-awaited day of the men’s heavyweight tournament.
