Singlcanoe brings me joy, says Jiri Prskavec a day before the World Cup in Prague

On Thursday 8 June 2023, the ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup will return to Prague's Troja for the nineteenth time. Czech competitors together with the director of the organising committee of the World Cup Jiří Rohan and the head coach of the national team Jiří Prskavec Sr. met with media representatives at a traditional press conference at the Boutique Hotel Yalta. He believes in the success of the national team and the support of the fans from the start of the race on Thursday until Sunday.

Director of the LOC Jiří Rohan recalled the history of the race and thanked the loyal partners of the race: "The World Cup in Prague - Troja really has some history behind it, it is coming back for the nineteenth time. But I wasn't there for all the years - at the beginning, Emil Pollert worked here as the head of the organising committee in 1995/96, and then I took over from him from 2000. We are quite happy that the participation is high this year - we have around 380 boats from 45 countries registered. It's a pretty decent number for a canoe slalom. This year, the organisation of the races is possible thanks to long-term partners led by the general partner ČEZ Group and the main partner Uniqa Financial Group, but the National Sports Agency and the Capital City of Prague also made a significant contribution," said Jiří Rohan.

Head coach Jiří Prskavec senior is satisfied with the state of preparation of the representatives, as well as his charges led by his son Jiří Prskavec. "I think the condition of the team is very good and I don't know of any major complications for the competitors. Everyone is looking forward to performing at their best in front of the home fans. The World Cup in Prague is also rated as the best by international competitors precisely because of the fans. So I believe that there will be a great atmosphere in Troja," said Prskavec.

Jiří Prskavec is currently in the spotlight thanks to his great performances in a canoe: "At the moment, I am motivated to finally do better in a kayak than in a canoe at some event. It's starting to annoy me a little. I haven't really done well in the kayak so far this season, unlike the canoe where I didn't expect much. So I hope that I can fix it and maybe here in Troja, I can have a nice ride that I would be happy with.
I've been practicing kayaking for 20 years, singlcanoe for two... the moment I manage to make it to the finals in both categories, I'm just as excited. But I still believe that my chance to be in the final is still better in kayak. That's what I'd like to focus on. Then I hope I can turn that head to a singles performance. I think I still have a little problem with that - switching between one category and the other. In particular, I'm not quite good at switching from singlecanoe to kayak in a competition and I have to work on it," admitted the kayaker and single canoeist in one person.

After the Olympics in Tokyo, Prskavec junior was looking for a new stimulus and admitted that he might not even be in the team anymore. "Maybe last season wouldn't have been so good. That singlecanoe brought me new joy and I left training with the same motivation as before the Olympics. I think it moved me somewhere further. Maybe I wouldn't enjoy it so much.'