A Czech triathlete one of whose biggest achievement is the Bronze medal from the Olympic Games inSydneyin 2000. He took part in this race on the Duratec Cyborg R14 frame. In 2005-2011, he worked as a coach of the South Korean national team. He has been the coach of the Australian triathlon national team since 2012. He serves as an example to his charges as he trains every day and continues to race actively.
Born: 15 November 1973
Residence: Hluboká nad Vltavou, now Melbourne
Equipment:
- MTB Canner CC1 & SRAM XX & SID
- Road frame Cult CR3
MTB: DURATEC Canner, Sram XX
Music: Heavy Metal
Hobby: Camping & Beer
Favourite food: SUSHI and Korean Jae Juk Bokum Bab (spicy pork)
Racing: Long and Short Triathlons, MTB, Road Runs, Ocean Swims
Beside his lenghty professional career Jan has been coaching the Korean Triathlon National Team (2005-2011) These days we can find him in Melbourne working with the best Australian Junior and U23 athletes fast-tracking their transition to the world podium ranks.
After long relocation process Jan is back in training starting his 2012 season with the 2XU Triathlon in Falls Creek at the 1600m plus altitude.
He has been doing sports since his childhood and he started to gain endurance as a 4-year-old boy during long skiing and cyclist trips with his parents. If he hadn’t given a try to swimming, he could have been a good figure-skater. His great and successful triathlon career basically started by swimming. As a swimmer he went through the SCM and SVS system in Pilsen, but when he was 18 he was attracted by a new sport that came from the then denounced USA – triathlon! Not only the medal from the Olympic triathlon premiere in Sydney 2000 but also his coaching success of the past few years on a high international level proved that his choice was right.
A question for Honza: Has it ever occurred to you where your sports career would lead you?
Not in my wildest dreams. When I first got the offer to work in the South Korean team I firstly took it as a joke. Korea seemed too exotic to me, I couldn’t really imagine working there out of a sudden. I have been used to travelling since my early childhood. The Earth is my home; it is my destiny, life destination and the mission of this life. However, I have to confess that the start was difficult. Culture shock, new environment, the twenty-million city of Soul, communication problems, a completely different style of thinking in comparison with Europe. I got used to it step by step, I started to have fondness for Korea and the Koreans and what I wouldn’t expect at all, I accepted Korea as my home.
