Remigius Machura

* 1960

The Sportsmen
17. 11. - 29. 12. 1989 - The Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia
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    The first competitions

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    duration: 00:56
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    “I still remember how I skipped school to compete, I threw 10.04 metres, I won, and I came home thrilled, thinking how proud Dad would be. But Dad stopped me right in my tracks: ‘First place is fine, but the performance was a family disgrace.’ Then he said: ‘If you want to start putting, you first have to learn something about it.’ And he gave me a few of his books. In them, I read about famous sportsmen, their performance, the opinions of contemporary experts on shot putting... I started training in earnest, and I ended the season with a throw of 15.90 metres.”

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    Breaking records

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    “The first time I threw 19 metres, they told me I still had a lot of work set out ahead of me, and all kinds of ‘clever’ talk, which I still hate. So I retorted to the record-holder Mr Brabec that I had it worked out and that in two years - that is, in 1982 - I would throw 21 metres, which was his performance at the time. He couldn’t take my answer mentally, he made a bet with me for three litres of Scotch... and lost.”

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    Doping in the Communist regime

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    “[Q: It’s written everywhere that you had a doping problem in 1985. Could you describe how it happened?] The Party and the government acted like a good businessman - they wanted their sportsmen to take the first places, and because it was found that the whole world uses enhancing substances, the same trend was established here in about 1978, 1979. Sportsmen were offered doping, and medical surveillance was ensured - the doping was decided by a doctor, and there was an institute that observed select sportsmen.”

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    Praha, 03.05.2016

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    duration: 01:44:27
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Sports should be a source of joy

Remigius Machura (2016)
Remigius Machura (2016)

Remigius Johannes Machura was born on 3 July 1960 in Rychnov nad Kněžnou. Towards the end of primary school he began training in earnest for the shot put and quickly rose in proficiency; he became a top-tier sportsman at grammar school and successfully represented Czechoslovakia at international competitions from 1978. In 1985 he tested positive for doping and was banned from competing for two years. The greatest success of his sports career came in 1988. After that he gradually drew out from competitive sports, he worked simultaneously as a couch and a caretaker and made some extra money as a bouncer during the night. Upon returning from basic military service, he applied to the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport of Charles University, later switching to the Palestra Upper Vocational School of Physical Education and Sport, which he completed. He has chaired the athletics department since 1997, and he continues to train young shot putters in Sparta Praha.

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