What you can learn: There are people among us who are exceptional in what they do, what they have achieved and they inspire others with their way of life. Genetics gave them talent and they were not afraid to use it, develop it and sacrifice something extra for it and thus achieve more than others. They are simply GENEtically GEnial. We bring you an interview with one of them.
Matej Tóth is a Slovak athlete who walks 20km and 50km. He is the Olympic champion from Rio de Janeiro 2016 in the royal discipline of 50 km walking and a multiple winner of the Slovak athlete of the year poll. He was nominated twice in the Athlete of the Year in Europe poll. In 2016, he was the first athlete in history to receive the Sportsman of the Year award in Slovakia. He currently races for the club VŠC Dukla Banská Bystrica. He is a father of two, and during his still active career, he passes on his knowledge and experience in sports to the youth in his Matej Tóth Sports Academy
They say success is only partly a result of innate talent, it's more about hard work. How is it with you?
Having a congenital predisposition is also important. Perhaps not even talent as such, but rather the ability to bear the load, the body's resistance, good immunity. But much more important is systematic and continuous preparation. We can also call it hard work, but it doesn't have to be perceived negatively. For some, running 12 km is a demanding training, for me it's relaxation.
When did you find out that you could enjoy sports?
Ever since I can remember, I have always enjoyed sports. I played sports always, everywhere and with pleasure. At the same time, I was not particularly exceptional in anything. I just enjoyed it. It was only from the age of ten that I began to devote myself more seriously to sports. Those were my athletic beginnings.
What sports did you try before you realized that walking could be "Your sport"?
Unorganized, just with friends, almost all of them - hockey ball on the street, hockey on a frozen lake, football between the shacks, cycling around the housing estate and in the village, skiing, skating, basketball, volleyball... I completed a few training sessions (about 2) in karate, or at football. But until the aforementioned 10 years, I enjoyed "street" sports more.
Was anyone in your family gifted in sports? Who did you inherit your genes from?
Our parents led us to exercise and sports, and they liked to play sports themselves, but they did not do any sport at the top or performance level. This also proves that parents can give you more through education than through genes. Even though I am grateful to them for those genes as well.
You have two daughters who grow up in a sports family. Do they show any of your genes?
We try to imitate our parents. We lead them to sports and exercise, but we do not force them to participate in organized sports. It's up to them whether something interests them enough to continue to do so in the future. The babies are smart, especially the older Emmka, also hardworking and responsible (she dances), but I wouldn't say that they are the prototype of talented super athletes.
You founded a sports academy to help develop children's sports literacy. How do today's children approach movement?
To my surprise, very positive. It turns out that children want to play sports, that if you pay attention to them, they are smart and have talent. Only unlike our generation, it is no longer so natural on the street with peers, but they have to be drawn to sports through various clubs or training. And you have to interest them, they have to do it with joy, because otherwise they end very quickly. That is why we focused on making the training interesting, fun and engaging in our methodology. According to our statistics, only 0.4% children left us in the three years of the academy's operation. And more than 5,000 children completed our trainings.
You will probably agree with me that many times parents lead their children to sports that are a matter of their heart as parents, or an unfulfilled dream, but the child may not have exactly such predispositions and is worried. Is it good for a trainer to know the predispositions of his clients and thus conduct training based on perfect knowledge of their genetics? Would you appreciate a tool that allows you to do this as a coach and as an active top athlete?
I definitely agree. That is why we decided to focus on the younger school age. There we lead children to general sports training. We test them three times a year and then we can recommend what kind of sport they are suitable for. If another tool were more perfect and could diagnose predispositions, it would be for the future of sports, but also for a better feeling of sports in children, because you always prefer to devote yourself to something that you are good at and that is easier for you - what you have predispositions, excellent.
What you learned: To be the best in a particular sport at a particular moment and to achieve great victories is to do more than others for that moment. This moment is preceded by a long, several years to a lifetime of preparation and the use of knowledge, experience, but also science to tune all aspects of the sports form to the right moment. Facts about genetic predispositions are extremely important not only for elite athletes. After all, luck really only favors the prepared.
I thank Matej for the interview, we are keeping our fingers crossed that he fulfills his limits and his sports dreams and we believe that DNA4fit analysis can help him to progress even more in his career and life.
Photo: BBonline.sk