She played basketball and she did really well. But she dribbled, passed and shot so much better then the other other girls that she soon had no more possibilities to grow in this sport. The mother of Martina Sábliková saw it and decided to do something about it. Her daughter started to get bored in basketball and really needed a new challenge. ‘Martina should start doing an individual sport', Eva Sábliková decided and got in contact with Petr Novak. The speed skating trainer in Svratka, east of Prague, said that he would like to become the trainer of Martina. Every skater is one extra in a sport that is so small in the Czech Republic that it is hardly noticed.

 

Did the little Sábliková have talent? Novak: ‘Let's say that she did not have natural talent. But she had a lot of ambition and Martina never gives up.' She proved it in inline skating, Novak's favorite training method. The coach, a former Czech speed skating champion, does not have to offer that much ice to his pupils. Long track speed skating in Czech Republic is skating between ice hockey skaters. The only track for long track skaters in the country is twenty kilometers south of Svratka and counts only 330 meter. Therefore the skaters do a lot of inline skating in Novak's training. At first, Sábliková was bruised a lot. ‘I was laying more on the road then that I was skating', she says in acceptable German. ‘I was really good at falling. But I had so much ambition that I could resist the pain.'

 

Martine was 14 years old when her coach told her that he wanted her to do 2 things: Win an Olympic medal and break a World Record. ‘I thought that he had become crazy and that is what I asked him. “Are you insane, or what?” But was only smiling.' Sábliková raised her shoulders and kept on training. But another four years later, she things that he maybe was not so crazy. Martina has found the way to the international top and she feels that she can keep improving. ‘At first I could only hope for a medal and World Record, but know I really believe I can do it.' In the Czech Republic everybody knows what skating is about. On short irons sliding over the ice. Ice hockey is as big as socces in this country. Sábliková: ‘But people don't understand long track speed skating. My friends think that I am a strange girl, but they admire me because of my passion for the sport. Talking about it with them is hard, because they don't know what I am talking about.'

 

At home however, Martina does feel understood. Her younger brother Milan is a speed skater as well. ‘And he is fast. He has got as much talent as I do.' Petr Novak is really happy with the brother and sister. The coach: ‘Finally I have two athletes who know what they want and who are prepared to train until they are dead.'

 

Long track speed skating may be not really known in their country, but the group of skaters, which has another three young athletes, is getting more and more attention. The team of the passionate trainer is adopted by the omni club Dukla, a big name in Czech sports history. In the communist time, Dukla was the army club which was famous in soccer. Dukla now offers Novak and his skaters some financial support. 10.000 euro a year for five athletes and a coach. For Martina Sábliková it means about 300 euro a month. ‘As long as I am living with my parents, I can live with that.'

 

On the longer distances the world top is absolutely within reach. But Martina watches out for stagnation. When she during the Master Class in Holland is sliding over the ice of Thiald, she realises that she does not have enough opportunities in her country. ‘Training on a 330 meter ice track is not really well for a long distance specialist. I have to make to much corners. If I need to skate on a 400 meter track, I always have to search for the right rhythm. That is a waist of energy.'