Inspiring photos and report by Eamonn Deane Jozef Bionic Metelka Josef Metelka was happy riding his motorbike, mountain biking and skiing were just for fun, the young Slovakian lived on the road and on the snow. He had moved to the UK in 2006, “I liked the country, I liked the people, I liked the lifestyle, I was working as a tennis coach and it was like paradise.” Sport had been a passion since childhood and by 2009 he was studying sports coaching at Oxford Brookes University, a promising career as a tennis coach beckoned but his world was about to be turned upside down. Returning home on his motorbike from an assignment, Metelka’s green Triumph motor cycle was hit by a car turning out of a side road. His left foot was crushed and despite lengthy surgery, his left leg was amputated below the knee. “It never occurred to me I would suffer a serious injury” he says, looking back. Metelka was speaking in the track centre in Aguascalientes, Mexico at the Paracycling world championships, Gold & a world record time of 4:30.603 in the C4 4KM Pursuit, silver in the Kilo, clocking 1:05.244 behind Great Britain’s Jody Cundy who broke the world record with a stunning 1:01.466 ride and another silver in the 15km scratch race, suggested he had ridden the boards before, the truth is somewhat different; “Monday drop in session, I knew he was quick at first glance, Ive seen and worked with enough riders over the years to see talent stand out a mile. Hed just finished well in the Severn bridge road race the day before and was still flying round the track less than 24 hours later! Recalls coach, Kyleigh Manners. Manners continues, “He needed to smooth his edges on the track and just fine tune stuff. We booked the track for some one on one coaching and he left feeling very confident” In fact Metelka had ridden at the Newport Paracycling Cup in November 2013 and realised there was a chance to get to Mexico “. I have trained at Newport Velodrome for two or three weeks this year just before the Championship. I have loved it” Conditions at Aguascalientes were challenging,racing at altitude with temperatures in the track centre reaching 42 degrees centigrade, it was tough for the sprinters, torture for the pursuiters! More to follow.......
Posted on: Tue, 29 Apr 2014 18:36:03 +0000
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