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26. 1. 2025

What it is like to run in the Paralympic Games

You may eventually meet Tereza Jakschová at DOCK IN FOUR, where, by day, she works as a PPC Team Leader at Publicis Groupe. Around four o’clock, however, she leaves the computer screen behind to make it on time to the athletics stadium for training. And not just any training – her lifelong passion in the form of overcoming her own obstacles through sprinting has earned her two consecutive spots to participate in the Paralympic Games. Tereza told us about these experiences in an exclusive interview.

Tell me about your path to becoming a Paralympic representative of the Czech Republic in athletics?

I started athletics relatively late, about in the ninth grade of primary school, when I was 15 years old. By starting, I mean that I regularly attended the club for training. Before that, I was a classic sports-loving child, I participated in various school competitions and sports such as track and field, but also floorball or basketball. Eventually, I just focused on running and started training at Slavia.

At that time, I had no idea that there was such a thing as para sport. I competed normally with my peers in the junior category and after about two years of doing athletics, people from para sport noticed me at the races and approached me. They invited me to a camp and some smaller races, and they ultimately got me on the wild card for the world championships. That was in 2013 before I turned eighteen. I went to Lyon, France, and that actually marked the start of my sports career.

Do you still compete in classic athletics with “healthy” rivals?

The way it works is that I am registered under the Czech Athletics Federation, and I also compete in classic competitions, specifically for Prague’s Slavia. But these engagements of mine are separate from the parathlon – the tables and the results are not linked, so I basically have a double line of racing. As part of para-athletics, I travel abroad an awful lot. In the Czech Republic, I compete with healthy athletes, and when I look at it from the performance aspect, I am pretty much average. Sometimes I reach the finals, sometimes I don’t, and it depends on my current state of mind. But my para-athletic career is on a higher level.

There are already several projects in the Czech Republic that try to bring para sport closer to classic athletics in terms of competition levels and other aspects. Some of my performances in the para athletics league are already starting to translate into my results at the Czech Athletics Federation. So it’s slowly starting to work as it probably should.

So can we say that today, we are trying to erase rather than highlight the differences between “classic” athletes and para-athletes?

Certainly. For example, in America, in universities, where a lot of sports are played on scholarships, and athletes are really like stars, most people don’t even distinguish much between para-athletes and the “classic” ones – there they are all just athletes. In general, the problem can sometimes result only from a practical point of view, because not every stadium is equipped to accommodate various adjustments to disciplines or equipment, for example for wheelchair users. But for example, in the highest athletic competition, the Diamond League, amputee races are now commonly included.

Is there some moment in history that defined the emergence of para sport?

I do not know if this can be described directly as the emergence of para sport, but I think that the first paralympics had its roots in a place called Stoke Mandeville in the UK, close to London, sometime around 1960. Just as the Olympic flame makes its way to the opening of the Olympics from Olympia in Greece, the Paralympic flame today travels from Stoke Mandeville.

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Your discipline involves running the 100 and 200-meter sprints. Why did you choose these, and not longer distances?

I wouldn’t say that I chose sprinting, rather it chose me! When I started with track and field, I learned all the basics, I even tried both the long jump and high jump... It is common for children not to focus on only one discipline, but rather they have all this diverse movement, which is good. In addition to the fact that it is healthy, you can try a lot of disciplines and eventually decide what you enjoy the most. Gradually, however, I began to focus only on the long jump and sprinting, because these disciplines have similar prerequisites. In the end, I profiled myself as a sprinter rather than an athlete in technical disciplines.

What or who motivates you the most in sports?

It’s definitely important to have a love of movement. You have to enjoy it, because if you go to practice just to “get it out of the way”, it’s probably not quite right. I enjoy pushing my own limits and improving my performance, even in training. I like what my coach says: “You control your body, your body doesn’t control you.”

This year’s Paralympic Games in Paris were certainly a major part of your life. Although you didn’t take home any medals, you mentioned in your contribution to the Czech Paralympic Team that the event was great. Can you tell us what it is like for athletes personally to experience such a sports holiday?

I first experienced the Paralympics in Tokyo three years ago, which was influenced by Covid. I was so excited about it because it was my first Paralympics, while the other girls who had experienced the games at least twice before were disappointed because Covid put a damper on everything. We had numerous restrictions, we could not even leave the village... When I came to the stadium for 60,000 people, which was completely empty, I thought that I would like to experience it at least once more with these people. And that is what I accomplished this year.

Paris was a completely different experience, because we could do what we wanted, we could go where we wanted, we had complete freedom and a lot of activities to try and experience. And, of course, the fans – the stadiums of absolutely all sporting events were sold out or nearly so. We had some tickets available so we could go see other sports than our own, but even those were gone immediately. The French are really sports enthusiasts and view para sport on the same level as the classic sports. I think this year smashed all sorts of records in the number of spectators in terms of the history of the Paralympics.

How would you explain to an ordinary person what such a Paralympic village is like?

Imagine a huge complex of new buildings, something like DOCK, but many times bigger. It is enclosed and has only three, carefully guarded entrances. In addition to athletes, those who had accreditation, various visitors, sponsors, but also friends or families of competitors could get in. Every building they built for the Olympics or Paralympics will be used for something in the future – for example, we were accommodated in a future hotel, but there were also future apartments or university dormitories. Normal roads lead between the buildings, although, of course, there were no cars there now – we could go in golf carts or on bicycles to reach more distant venues.

There was also an entertainment zone dominated by Samsung, being the general partner, besides the post office, an Olympic fan goods store, several cafes, a bar – of course with non-alcoholic beer (laughs), a chill-out zone, a gym, a park… In fact, it is such a residential area that is intended for normal life use after the Paralympics.

Do the game organizers motivate you to spend as much time as possible in the village? How did you spend your free time there?

First of all, it is probably important to say that everything there for us is free, except for the merch, or as part of the entry fee. After three weeks, by the time we were to head back home, we laughed that in the Czech Republic we would probably go to the store, take something and, out of sheer habit, we would tend to leave without paying. (laughs)

When it comes to spending time as such, at the stage when the races were taking place, they became everyone’s sole focus. The rhythm of the day is quite simple: you start with breakfast, then you usually head to the bus stop, from where you will be taken to the respective stadiums. After the races, you return for lunch, then you can go for a cup of coffee or a bike ride… Simply idyllic. And sometimes you stop off at the laundromat to pick up clean clothes. (smiles) If you’re interested in nightlife, you couldn’t buy alcohol in the village, but neither was it forbidden... Each country has its own common room where we could meet: it was a living room with a couch, TV, and there were people from the organizing committee. I know that some countries had even more sophisticated digs, such as Australia and New Zealand, they had something like their own café where music played... This is probably due to the sheer size of the team – there were only 30 of us compared to the Czech Olympic team of over 100 people, so we were in smaller spaces, but even that did not prevent us from celebrating a successful Paralympic year even until 5:00 a.m. (laughs)

Do you dare make any new friendships from the Paralympics, for example with foreign athletes?

Certainly, and not only with people from abroad. Other than here, for example, I personally have no chance to meet our swimmers or other representatives of other sports. Much depends on the rhythm of your sport at the Games because that will dictate whom you meet regularly in the dining room, on buses, etc., and it is here that relationships can be established.

How would you rate the Paralympics in Paris in terms of organization, even compared to Tokyo? Were you looked after properly?

Rather than Paris and Tokyo, I would compare the Paralympics and the World Championships, both held in Paris. The Paralympics, where I did not personally notice any issues, were the clear winners in that category. On the contrary, it was really bad at the World Championships. Most of the organizers that time spoke no English, which made it extremely difficult for all of us to get our bearings, even impacting transfers to the stadiums... But I guess they learned from this because the Paralympics were absolutely fine for me.

What feelings do competitors have when they are waiting in a block for the sound of the starting gun at the Paralympics?

It’s still a race like any other, but here it’s special in that the athlete must be mentally prepared for the noise. When you have a full stadium that can accommodate 80,000 people, it’s a huge buzz. You have to really focus only on yourself and be resistant to external influences, and not get disturbed too much. There is quite a lot of chaos before the start and the best moment comes when the moderators silence the entire stadium. At that moment, you could hear a pin drop – there is absolute silence. And then, just as the gun goes off, the unbelievable rumbling erupts again.

Do you feel any different after returning from Paris than before you left? Will reaching such a milestone change you?

It certainly tested my resilience to pressure, stress, and things like that again. I had to sort of strike a balance, because while I wanted to enjoy this moment in time, it was a commitment. You want to do what you’ve been training for for three years. I also found it challenging to return to normal mode, but I don’t quite feel any different...

What does your typical day look like? Do you manage to balance sports with your work here at Dock at Publicis Groupe, your personal life and other hobbies?

I come to work in the morning, I’m here until 4:00 p.m. and then I head over to the stadium. We are usually there until 7:00 p.m. and then I go home. It’s pretty simple, yet intense. (laughs)

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Have you already used the local running track for some small training?

Yes, we had a little sports team-building event here, we competed against a speed counter.

Did you win?

Yes, but my colleagues did not believe that the time I ran could really be right. (laughs)

Do you reward yourself for your sports performance?

Definitely with good food. As a reward, I like to eat something sweet or some exquisite Indian cuisine. Normally, I don’t follow a special diet or appreciate food all that much, but I know what it should contain so that I can get everything I need out of it.

What’s the biggest challenge or difficult period you’ve faced in your athletic career so far?

In general, I would say that the most difficult are the nominations for the Paralympics. It is an arduous and, above all, exceedingly long period. Meeting the eligibility criteria is a process that usually starts a year and a half or even two years before the start of the games, and nominations close two months before they commence.

In para-athletics, even if you meet the limit, it does not automatically mean that you will go. In large competitions, such as the World Championships, slots are allocated for the country on the basis of location. Whoever places in the top four in the observed races generates a slot for the given country. And there are other rankings that can generate only half a slot, so two to three people can be waiting for just one chance to participate in the Games.

This happened even now before Paris and, in fact, before Tokyo, when there were three of us girls per one slot, and it was decided at certain races or according to year-round cumulative results. The hardest part is to maintain concentration.

How many Czech competitors did you have to fight for your place in Paris?

Two out of three places were given to girls who already have a medal from the past and are among the top five in the world rankings. Four of us competed for yet another slot. And in fact, all six of us had met the necessary criteria.

In this respect, it’s not easy, because when you think about it, the World Championships and the Paralympic races are basically almost one and the same in terms of, for example, the opponents and the expected level of difficulty. But for the Championships, you just have to meet the limit and you can go, while getting to the Paralympics is an exclusivity. For example, water slalomers have a similar system as we do, while in classic athletics, athletes qualify completely differently. Either way, the competition at the summer games is really unbearable, and although there are actually more people who have a chance to win medals, only a few of them make it to the finals.

Do you feel, for example in your surroundings, that your participation in the Paralympics has somehow significantly influenced the public perception of disabilities?

I am used to this from my surroundings and I do not perceive it as a problem. As for the general public, I think that the performance of David Kratochvíl, a visually impaired swimmer, resonated rather well. I believe people are starting to perceive it more that the performances of para sport men and women are as valuable as those of healthy athletes. The Czech Paralympic Committee is also trying to strengthen the same idea through its communication. In my opinion, it is more about how one can work with their respective disability. I don’t have a hand, so I know that I have to focus more on strengthening the center of the body and somehow even it out. There are just some things we have to do extra as opposed to athletes without a disability.

It helps to look at these performances from the perspective of three groups of people. The first ones are like me, who were born with a disability but regularly play sports, it is a natural part of their lives and the performances correspond to their experiences. The second group are people who were healthy and engaged in sports for part of their lives, but have lost a limb or maybe ended up in a wheelchair due to an injury or illness. However, they have returned to sports, only in a modified form or discipline, and their performance is usually great because they have a good foundation. And finally, there are people who have never really devoted themselves to sports, but they get into them as a way of coping with their new situation. They usually compete at lower levels or take sports as a new hobby. It is necessary to view para sport as normal sports – the best ones always have talent in addition to determination and perseverance.

If, based on your experience, you were to pass on a message to young athletes with disabilities, what would it be?

Perseverance is the most important thing. To endure season after season, to be consistent in training, to accept the fact that the Paralympics are not trained for in the year before the Games, but over three to four years...

And how do you define success for yourself?

For me, the key is to focus on performance and improving on my own personal records. Each athlete has their own limit, which differs from the others. For example, when I compare my performance with an American sprinter who has genetically faster muscle fibers, it is clear that it is not possible to look at us from the same perspective. I can only compare myself to myself and my previous performances.

In a sprint, there are certain absolute limits that cannot be exceeded, no matter how hard I try. So the key for me is to keep in mind that personal progress and relative improvements are what motivate and drive me forward. Every day, I try to push my limits and overcome what I did yesterday.

I had a season where I achieved my personal bests, but it wasn’t enough for a medal. On the contrary, in another season I ran a tenth slower, and yet it was enough to make the finals of the World Championships. That is why I think that success cannot be defined only by medals. Every athlete wants to win, but for me, it’s important to make it to the finals and to see what times I run there.

Thank you for the interview.