today 13:44
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The first nine-member part of the Slovak athletics team at the Tokyo Olympics, after more than an 11-hour direct flight from Vienna, landed at Tokyo’s Narita Airport.
Runners Gabriela Gajanová and Emma Zapletalová, hammer maker Martina Hrašnová, hammer maker Marcel Lomnický, physiotherapist Claudia Hladíková, coaches Libor Charfreitag, Rudolf Lukáč, Peter Žňava and head coach of SAZ, also head of the team Martin Pupiš – are already absorbing the Olympic atmosphere.
“This was followed by extremely lengthy control processes related to the COVID-19 pandemic, which lasted skillfully for about six hours. We were not surprised that the whole process looked as if the organizers did not have a system. They used QR codes for everything, but it all it ended and an ordinary pencil and paper came into play.
The whole process looked quite chaotic: we passed several controls, PCR tests. All the expeditions gathered in one waiting room, we were completely mixed and so we all waited together for the test results. If the crown can be caught somewhere, it’s definitely there – especially when many members of other expeditions did not even have just a veil, “ said Martin Pupiš on the website of the Slovak Athletic Association after his arrival in Japan.
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Slovak athletes have moved from Tokyo to the pre-Olympic training camp Ura la Mer in the campus of the University of Meikai in Urajasu, Chiba Prefecture, where they will tune their form for the upcoming XXX XXXII competitions. Olympics. To the Olympic Village in Tokyo – with the exception of pedestrians who have their competitions in Sapporo – Slovak athletes will leave two days before the race.
“In Urajas, where we were greeted by pleasant weather, we each live alone, in a room for five people. In addition to sports facilities, we have a dining room, gym, garden and relaxation pools. It’s a pity that even though we have the sea we see and feel, only 100 meters, we can’t go to it. Also taboo for us is a beautiful park, which we have right under the windows… The measures are extremely strict. “ SAZ chief coach continued.
Eight-year-old Gabriela Gajanová and 400m hurdles Emma Zapletalová have already completed their first training at the stadium of Meikai University. After a long journey from Europe to the Far East, they trotted easily. The next day, everyone was training. “The Japanese take great care of us,” stressed Martin Pupiš. “Everything is fine, we’re just picking up the little things about catering, which were quite complicated to provide, plus we’re dealing with a WiFi internet connection.”
The next one will fly to the camp in Urajas on July 21 with his boss Vladimír Gubrický with Volk’s strength trainer Róbert Kresťanka. Two days later, sprint champion Ján Volko and coach Naďa Bendová will be selected for Japan, and as the last on July 26, pedestrians Mária Katerinka Czaková, Miroslav Úradník, Matej Tóth, Michal Morvay, their coach Matej Spišiak, doctor Pavol Hajmássy and physiotherapist Denis Freudenfeld will leave.
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