2015 ICF World Championships Slalom
 
1
2
3
K1M
CZ J. PRSKAVEC
PL M. POLACZYK
US M. SMOLEN
K1W
CZ K. KUDEJOVA
DE R. FUNK
DE M. PFEIFER
C1M
GB D. FLORENCE
SI B. SAVSEK
GB R. WESTLEY
C1W
AU J. FOX
CZ K. HOSKOVA
ES N. VILARRUBLA
C2
DE ANTON/BENZIEN
FR PICCO/BISO
FR KLAUSS/PECHE

Canoe Sprint

Interview with Olympic Sprint Champion and mother Krisztina Fazekas-Zur

canoe kayak sprint Fazekas-Zur Krisztina athlete olympian hungary interview sportscene icf mother

Source: Kajak-Kenu Sport | Translator: Ferenc Szekszárdi | Proofreader: Katie Ellis - Olympic Champion Krisztina Fazekas-Zur had only managed to go home and visit her family in Hungary for a week before she left again Tuesday 30 September for California in order to start preparations for the 2015 racing season.

"I didn’t jump straight back into training as I felt that I needed some more time with Noah. After giving birth I rested for 6 weeks before I started to do light exercise again. I swam, I did stand up paddle boarding, I had a few kayak sessions and I ran. On top of all this, I competed in a few stand up paddle board competitions in Europe. My husband needed to go on a business trip, so it was a good excuse for Noah and me to go with him. Our friends and family thought that it was a crazy idea to travel to Europe with such a young baby but in the end we all really enjoyed the trip and had many adventures.

We visited several events, starting in Germany and even making it as far as Gibraltar. I also participated in 2 competitions in the meantime. One of them was held in St. Moritz in high altitude of 1800m and just 5 minutes after the start I could barely breathe."

canoe kayak sprint Fazekas-Zur Krisztina athlete olympian hungary interview sportscene icf mother Krisztina has been given holiday by her husband/coach until the 15th October, meaning that she only had about 2 weeks to prepare mentally and physically for the season.

"I completely leave it to Rami as to how he puts the programme together... We are going to have some international athletes here for the training camp. The Slovakian double who won the worlds in Moscow in K-2 500m & 1000m will be here as well as Erik Vlcek and Juraj Tarr, the German National Team and the Canadian Adam Van Koeverden. I'm really hoping that I'll be able to train with them and keep up the tempo."

Do you think that it will be hard to remain as dominant and strong as the 2014 national team and to keep up with the pace of other elite athletes?

It's going to be a tough one. Especially because of my situation, but I have no fear.

I have managed to achieve what I wanted before, so I’m confident I can make it happen again in the future.

My only issue is finding a K2 partner as Natasa Janics and Katalin Kovacs can't be torn apart and the Anna Karasz-Ninetta Vad double works really well too. Likewise, why would the Tamara Csipes-Gabriella Szabó duo change anything after a gold medal at the worlds?  Still, the selection policy as it stands states that we all need to perform well in K1 first. I strongly believe that if it doesn’t happen next year, at the Rio Olympics in 2016 I will certainly give Danuta Kozak a hard time on the water."

canoe kayak sprint Fazekas-Zur Krisztina athlete olympian hungary interview sportscene icf mother Krisztina’s goals may well prove to be within reach as over the last few years we have seen evidence showing the performance of some female athletes returning to sport after giving birth is greatly improved.

"I can't tell if it's going to be the same with me, but one thing is for sure; being a mother has taught me a lot of things. I’ve never had much patience before and I used to get irritated very easily. Since Noah has arrived I feel I have calmed down and I am far more tolerant too. All the things that used to be major stressors in my life no longer seem relevant. Perhaps this is going to be a major turning point which changes my attitude to training from now on."

It’s now entirely possible that a mini kindergarten could open up at the training camp in Szolnok in the spring time. After the warm water training camps, several young mothers including Katalin Kovacs and Natasa Douchev-Janics will be attending the next training camp.

"Rami and I haven't talked about how we are going to manage the flow of the days in the training camp yet, but all three of us are going to be there that's for sure. It’s the same as Kati or Natasa who will also be with their families. We only need to arrange something for the time we spend on the water... Perhaps we will work something out together with the other girls."