Lukas Hradecky has been guarding the goal of Leverkusen in the Bundesliga since 2018. The Finn experienced a moment of shock while training for the second season with Bayer.
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the essentials in brief
- In the summer of 2019, Lukas Hradecky had to flee from a bear while jogging.
- The Leverkusen goalie was training in a forest in Slovakia at the time.
- According to data, he had the highest heart rate of all runs this summer.
Lukas Hradecky has been the chosen goalkeeper in Leverkusen for years. In 2018, the now 33-year-old Finn switched to the Werkself from Eintracht Frankfurt.
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During his time at Bayer, Hradecky experienced his greatest moment of shock in 2019 – and not on the football field.
As the goalie reveals to “Bild TV”, he had to flee from a bear at the time!
Hradecky: “I trusted my feet”
To prepare for the new season, Hradecky completed a forest run near his Slovakian hometown of Bratislava in the summer. Suddenly his heart rate spikes.
“I saw movement in the distance. I didn’t stay to see if it’s a bear or a big dog. I wouldn’t try to play you dead when a bear is chasing you,” says the Finn.
“I trusted my feet and, thank God, got out of there happy – if it was actually a bear.”
That could well have been it. According to “Sportbild”, around 1,200 free-living bears live in Slovakia, more than in many other European countries.
The data from the run also suggests that Hradecky felt threatened. “Our physical department can confirm that I had the highest heart rate of any run this summer.” The corresponding data of the run were transmitted electronically.
Bundesliga: Hradecky satisfied with Seoane’s successor
In the meantime, the Leverkusen goalie should feel a little more relaxed than before. After the weak start to the season under ex-YB coach Gerardo Seoane and the 17th place in the Bundesliga, Bayer is now in sixth place.
Under Seoane’s successor, Xabi Alonso, they “almost rose from the dead,” says Hradecky. “We can attack now so that we might be there in Europe next year.”
On Thursday (9 p.m.) the Werkself play the first leg of the Conference League quarter-finals against Union Saint-Gilloise at home. On Sunday (7.30 p.m.) Hradecky and Co. have to play in the Bundesliga at VfL Wolfsburg.
