Dukla Brno was and still is dear to my heart
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František Jursa was born on May 1, 1933 in Brno. When he was a young boy, his parents gave him his first bicycle as a birthday present and he managed to break it during his first race. His parents did not want him to pursue cycling, but František’s desire was stronger. In 1952 he won his first road race. He defeated Jan Veselý, a Czechoslovak cyclist who was the winner of the Peace Race. A year later František went to Prague and he began preparing for the Olympic Games in Melbourne there. He finished the fifth in a team pursuit race on a four-kilometre track. Czechoslovak athletes unexpectedly had to leave the Olympic Games earlier due to the dramatic events in Hungary. The leader of the national team feared that the athletes might emigrate and therefore they were ordered to quickly pack their belongings, board a ship and set out on the journey home. After his return from the Olympic Games, František turned from an active athlete into a manager. He received an offer to establish an army cycling club in Brno, called Dukla Brno, and he began raising future champions of the Czechoslovak cycling sport. Due to frequent emigrations of his charges abroad, he led the Dukla Brno club only until 1963 when he was forced to quit. Communist officials criticized him for his poor job in the area of political education. František then remained in the club as a coach. At present he serves as the chairman of the sports club TJ Dukla Brno. He lives in Brno-Husovice with his daughter.
