Zsolt Németh: „We have to break personal records at every competition”

The Szombathelyi Dobó SE (Thowing Sports Club of Szombathely) will have many participants at the Hungarian Grand Prix Series One of their coaches, Zsolt Németh revealed who will attend, who will skip the event and why.

– Bence Halász and Réka Gyurátz, who have both qualified for the Olympics already, will not compete in Tatabánya. The women’s hammer is not in the program, so Réka cannot go, while Bence does not want to take away valuable points from his competitors. On the other hand, it will be a very important competition for our Olympic champion, Krisztián Pars and Dániel Rába, who is gradually rounding into better form each day. Both are fighting to qualify for the Olympics and Donát Varga will also compete, who aims to consistently throw over 70 meters.

– How important is it for your athletes to participate in high-level international competitions during the Olympic qualifying period?

– At the moment, every competition counts, but the Continental Tour’s stops are especially important, since it allows athletes to get extra points.

– Is there a realistic chance that somebody can directly qualify for the Olympics here, or significantly improve his place on the world rankings?

– I do not think anyone can qualify directly, but they can definitely improve their positions. We have to keep fighting until the last event, – June 29th, Németh Pál Memorial, Szombathely – because the competition is very tight for the last available places.

– If somebody had already qualified for Tokyo, how crucial is it to compete at an event like this?

– If it fits into the schedule, then it provides important feedback about their current form and they can also get used to the atmosphere of a big competition because the fields are usually stacked.

– The stadium in Tatabánya was the venue of some very important youth competitions and has been renovated since then. In your point of view, how ideal is it as a venue, since the hammer throw does not take place in the stadium?

– We got to know the circumstances last September and many of our youth athletes set new personal bests in the new throwing circle. If nothing happened to the stadium in the recent past, I think it can be an excellent venue for the senior athletes as well.

– What are the expectations for the athletes at the Continental Bronze Tour?

– I would like Krisztián to get a season’s best, so that he can get back into the top 32 in the world. As for Dani, he has to try to set a new personal record at every competition, if he wants to go to Tokyo.