Index – Sport – Gáton was a legend, now an ambassador
At the 2017 World Championships in London, Balázs Baji, who won the bronze medal in the 110 hurdles, entered the elite company of the greats of Hungarian athletics with his feat, and he planned to strengthen this position when the international federation entrusted Budapest with the honorable task of hosting the 2023 World Championships. The grief of the 33-year-old sportsman is that his injuries first ordered him to stop, and then, despite his best efforts, to say that he would no longer be able to compete with the best in the world. However, ever since he became one of the favorites in the steeplechase, it has always been his goal based on hard work, humility and diligence.
The upcoming World Championships in Budapest awakens bittersweet thoughts in me, because I wanted to be a participant in the biggest Hungarian athletics competition of all time, which increases its status, so that for the best, obtaining the right to start at the Olympics is also a challenge. Compensation rematch, that I can be the ambassador of the world, which fills me with pride
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said Balázs Baji to the SzPress News Service, whose personal record of 13.15 seconds will help him to a valuable place in the world rankings even after his retirement.
Calmly, but not incredulously
One year before his World Championship feat, Balázs Baji won a silver medal in the 110 hurdles at the 2016 European Championships in Amsterdam, so it could be guessed that in 2017 he will be able to have a say in the battle for medals in a bigger test of strength. Reflecting on these two subsequent tests of strength, the ten-time Hungarian champion in athletics formulated his advice to be considered.
I am convinced that the challenge of the World Cup in Budapest and the encouragement of the domestic audience in itself embody a motivational force that is difficult to increase even further. I have no doubt that there will be no problem with the quantity and quality of the work to be done, which of course means a big task for the association and the coaches involved, so I must warn my fellow athletes now that they must keep their composure and judge their chances soberly. and formulate their goals with two feet on the ground
Balázs Baji commented.
“I must add that credulousness is a bad adviser. A little more than seven and a half months before the start, the winter foundation is already in full swing, its success is the cornerstone of the success of the indoor and then the outdoor competition season. I myself have experienced that at such times the foundation for the birth of smaller and larger miracles is needed, but it doesn’t take many mistakes for things to go wrong,” continued Balázs Baji, jr. Following the advice of István Tomhauser, his master, he always prepared himself for the big battles with exemplary work.
He has no sense of absence
With his World Championship bronze medal, a feat comparable to which no other Hungarian sprinter or hurdler can boast, his second place at the outdoor European Championships, his Universiade victory and ten Hungarian championship firsts, there is hardly any feeling of lack for the excellent sportsman, who has had a competitive career spanning 12 years.
I would be an insatiable person if I were to talk about my sense of absence now and list the titles that have not been added to my name
– continued Balázs Baji, who this year took on a prestigious and responsible position at the forefront of Hungarian sports management in a bold turn and became the Deputy Director General for Sports Professional and Sports Strategy of the National Sports Agency.
“It would have been even nicer if I could have stayed on the track next year, but I didn’t want to get involved in an irresponsible business. I plan to end my sports career by putting the finishing touches on the i at the World Championships in Budapest, but I had to abandon this plan after much deliberation. Now I consider myself a lucky person, because he can stay in the thick of the sport, for the first time, following my appointment as deputy general manager, he was able to see from the “other side” the comprehensive “operation” of a promising world championship, to which I would like to contribute as much as possible to the best of my knowledge, he stated.
“And when the big competition starts, I will not only be a helper, but also a fan. I will push so that the Hungarian national team is not left without a medal, and at the same time we manage to get at least two or three appearances in the finals. The task is enormous. More than a hundred of the nations belonging to the international federation can boast of having collected medals in the biggest world competitions, I don’t know that this has happened in any other Olympic sport. The advantage of the home field can help the representatives of the Hungarian colors to get a good position, they don’t say anything else about their chances, because I don’t want to put a burden on the shoulders of our best. Each and every one of them sees the top athletics event starting on August 19, 2023 as a long-awaited unique opportunity for their career”, concluded Balázs Baji, whose sport, or rather the opportunity to play sports, is no longer hurdling, but tennis, padel and years of competition during the taboo of football and conditioning.