Athlete profile: Ladislav Rygl

Posted: Tue February 3, 1998 at 5:00 PM ET

Athlete notes

The "charging Czech" has skyrocketed into contention for an Olympic medal in Nagano in just two full seasons on the World Cup despite what he says are difficult training conditions in his home country..."In the Czech Republic we only have one ski jump with mats on it for summer training," he laments. "It is pretty far away from me. Harrachov (which holds an annual World Cup ski jumping Events) is closer to me, but it will only be ready for summer training in a year or two"...often, Rygl has to travel to Stams, Austria to get training time...and even though the Czech's nordic combined team is one of the top five in the world -- finishing an impressive fourth at the 1997 World Championships in Trondheim, Norway -- Rygl says locating the proper funding can be very tough..."By us there is a situation that you need money to be part of this sport," he says of nordic combined athletes in the Czech Republic. "You have to spend a lot of money for training. My father and I estimate that we have already spent over $5,000 this winter out of pocket"...but Rygl's father seems willing to do whatever it takes...after all, it was father and namesake, Ladislav, who originally pushed his son and daughter into sports..."My father had a big influence. I basically grew up on skis," he says. "Our town has more alpine skiing, but I always wanted to do ski jumping"...Rygl's sister was a competitive cross-country skier before becoming a flight attendant...now the family rallies around the younger Ladislav's competitions...last year he jumped an amazing 19 spots in the rankings to finish 11th in the overall World Cup standings...he also placed 12th individually at the World Championships and led his team to its fourth-place finish, while recording the second fastest cross-country time of the opening leg...with his quick rise, one would think Rygl would maintain an aura of youthful confidence...but that is not the case..."It's tough to say about my chances in Nagano because there are a lot of people who are so strong this year," says Rygl. "It will take a lot of luck"...he is convinced that he has prepared as best he can..."I did a lot of extra work this off-season," says Rygl. "I trained even more than in the past and did different work-outs for my cross-country skiing. I will definitely make some special preparations for the Olympics"...Rygl is a rather balanced nordic combined skier, with perhaps a little more talent in jumping...with the wind at Hakuba, that might help, while the tough cross-country course could also raise problems..."They were saying at the press conference last year that the cross-country course is best for classical cross-country skiers, not nordic combined skiers," he says. "It will be very tough for us, but we will have to do it"...father Ladislav remains involved in sports; he is a trainer for young athletes in their hometown of Vrchlabi...his mother is a secretary for the local police...Vrchlabi is 75 miles outside of Prague in the mountains of northern Czech Republic...it is also the hometown of 1992 and 1994 nordic combined competitor from the Czech Republic, Frantisek Maka...they sometimes trained together when Ladislav was younger...as hobbies, Rygl enjoys bicycling and playing golf, "I love trying all new things. I'm not always good, but it's fun"...Rygl speaks some English and good German...