Götzis 2010: Interviews with Trey Hardee, Bryan Clay and Roman Šebrle (1)
Trey, Tomas Dvorak once said that the world record over 9000 points seemed to him at that specific moment the most important thing. Even more than an Olympic medal! Do you agree with him?
He said that? (… Hesitating.)Well you know world records will be broken. To me winning the Olympics is an amazing accomplishment. An athlete doesn’t know always the outcome of his decathlon. But one thing is for shore I train to win. I suspect that a medal in the Olympics lasts for a longer time in peoples memory than a world record. They ask for the world record holder and that’s the last one.
Who is the greatest athlete in the world?
Roman for now.
What changed for you after winning the world championships?
The biggest thing for me and my coaches was confidence. Knowing we didn’t do all this for nothing. We looked what was best for me.
What’s important to you right now Bryan?
Right now it’s important to me to enjoy and to stay healthy . In 2008 my body was broke down and in 2009 I had an injury. This year training went good but competing against people like Trey can be stressful. But I had the best training in a really long time. So I’m anxious to see what will happen this year. If I do what my coaches told me to do and I have good weather – who knows!
The world record?
Well you know people have in mind that world records are not just world records. It’s something in their mind that has to be broken. They see Bolt and he breaks a world record. They see him next year and he’s doing it again! I have the feeling that the decathlon world record is much more difficult. Roman puts the bar extremely high! You need the perfect meet. Weather is one of the things we have to compete with. The world record is definitely possible. But I will only know after nine events if I can run the time that is needed for the record.
Roman what drives you still to perform on such a high level? Do you still love the sport like six years ago when you won the Olympics, or nine years ago when you did the world record?
I was seventeen years old when I started decathlon and at twenty-one I trained much harder. Then in 1997 I did six decathlons over eight thousand points. Now thirteen years later and at the end of my career I still love it and I hope I get the finish line of the fifteen hundred meters at the Olympics in 2012.
Do you have other goals now that you are older? For example you are a world record holder forty five times 8000 points or more and you have eight age records in deca and hepta.
No! I am still exited and still love decathlon but I don’t care for statistics. You know I even love the smell! I don’t know if you smell it? (Roman meant the smell of nature and the mountains in Götzis.)
What about the European championships this summer, since the Americans and the Cubans are not there?
Because I’m thirty five I will fight for every event and I hope for a medal!
How about the world record?
I know only one man can do it and that’s Bryan. After all records are to be broken!