Miesten valmennusryhmä esittelee uudet vahvistuksensa. Porukkaan liittyivät Pitäjänmäen Tarmosta Mikko Lassila ja Slovakiasta Helsinkiin vaihto-opiskelemaan tullut Martin Piják.
Miesten ja naisten ryhmät ovat tehneet koko syksyn ajan viikoittain pari-kolme yhteistreeniä ja meno on maistunut hyvältä. Vahvistusten osalta Martinin vauhti on tiellä jo lähellä suunnistusmaailman kärkeä, Mikon vankempi kokemus suomalaisista maastoista pitää hänet vielä maastossa tasoissa. Paljon on molemmilla kuitenkin vielä töitä tehtävänä ennen kuin mitaleita voi alkaa kaulaan ripustaa. Vauhtia yhteistreeneihin tuo keväällä 2007 myös Gernot Kerschbaumer, joka tulee vaihto-opiskelijaksi Helsinkiin tammikuun alussa.
Seuraavassa hieman Martinin ajatuksia, Mikon haastattelu julkaistaan vuodenvaihteen tienoilla.
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Hi Martin! Please tell something about yourself to the big audience. Who are you, where do you come from and what do you do in civil life? Why did you come to Finland?
– Moi Jaska. Minun nimi on Martin Piják. Minä olen Slovakialainen. Minä asun Pasilassa nyt. Minä olen opiskelija. Minä opiskelen tietojenkäsittelyoppi Kumpulassa.
I arrived to Finland because I wanted to improve my orienteering. Scandinavia seemed to be quite good choice. So far I do not regret. I am very satisfied in Helsinki.
What is your biggest orienteering victory so far?
– Hard to say. As junior I have been Slovak Champion in men category. I have two relay medals from WUOC. On JWOC 2003 our relay have reached fourth place. My biggest victory is that I like orienteering.
How big star you are in Slovakia? How big sport orienteering is there?
– Some guys have been at our house today(in Slovakia). And they told me that I am a big star. They red about our WUOC medal in the news paper. So I am a huge star, however they were not in best condition, so…
Orienteering is very small sport in Slovakia. Around 400 registered runners are in Slovakia. On the average national ranking competition you can find round 250 runners.
You are fast! How fast you really are, please tell us some numbers?
– Some numbers, here you go five days ago my training with Marian and Ondrej:
5x1km – 3:17-3:02
2x500m – 1:28, 1:26
300 – 46
Nice training that one. I need to do some tests, but I prefer doing them in the spring. So you can ask me again in May.
For us it has been very great to talk some English in the trainings with you. Has it been hard to adapt in to Finnish society or have everything gone fine?
– Suomi on hyvä maa. Ei hätää.
You have been training with HS boys now some four months. How has it felt like?
– It`s been great. Our training team has all the variety of runners you would like to have. We have smart guy: Tapsa, pushing guy: Mikko, talking guy: Henkka, smiling-sadistic guy: Jaska. I think I fit really well into our map training group.
Do you have good training possibilities from your apartment in Pasila? Do you like the taste of roads in Keskuspuisto and Viikki?
– Running in Keskuspuisto is convenient. I have been to Viikki only once with Tapsa. But I am doing as many sports as possible in our ylipiston liikunta. I like to do many sports and that is what I can do here. It is much easier to do multiple sports in Helsinki then at home in Pezinok.
How many new friends have you got in this autumn?
– Many. It is really hard to count. I was really surprised how well I was accepted. I feel really well in Helsingin Suunnistajat.
”Chinese always wonder why we Finns complain about the weather when we should complain about our food”. Well, it is not so bad Martin. What is your favorite food?
– I really like all kind of porridges with some fruits.
What is the national food of Slovakia?
– Its name is Bryndzové Halušky. It is made of potatoes, flour, bacon and special sheep cheese called bryndza. Foreigners usually say that it is disgusting, awful or something like that. But it is really delicious!
You have strong physics but what are the biggest weaknesses of you as an orienteer? At least you have made some “big ones” in our night trainings?
– I have few problems that I am working on. I have to improve as a runner. Then I have to be more stable as an orienteer. Some mistakes matter more. For example my night mistakes that were about ten minutes. When others waited for me in cold weather and heavy rain. As I am writing this answer I am starting to think about using again compass in our night training.
What are your goals for the forthcoming season?
– 20th place in WC Ukraine. Very good run at Tiomila, Jukola. And it seems that I will participate at Finnish Championship at ultra long and sprint distance. So I would like to get as good result as possible there, but it is hard to predict. Winter just begun.
Say five things why do you like orienteering?
– I like running orienteering. I like forest (quite many orienteering competitions are held in the forest). I like paper (map is made of paper). I like water (usually there is water in the forest and if not, I am sweating so I will get some water). I like people (you can meet people before, during and after orienteering competition, similar statement is valid also for training)
Hyvää joulua ja onnellista uutti vuotta.
Kiitos!
Teksti ja kuva: Jaakko Aho-Mantila
