Story of Heidi Suchánková: Four golds and dad´s broken skis

Heidi Suchánková was born in 1959. As a kid, she was supervising her parents to the start of Jizerska. Later in 1982 she participated at the race by herself, and immediately managed to win the race. In the following years she added another three victories, and we can see her on start every year.

Four times winner of Jizerska 50 Heidi Hanischová, later Suchánková, is one of the race legends. Not only that this tiny, hairy brunette with the big eyes belonged between proclaimed beauties from the best team Red Star Jablonec. She had known the track by heart, because she was used to ski there very often.

“As a child, I used to go to start with my parents” remembers. “My dad Ernst Hanisch as a versatile athlete, skier and mountaineer used to participate at Jizerska 50 since the first years. I am sure he participated at least 30times. My mum had started at Jizerska also several times and my brother was also a regular participant.”

In the memories Heidi many times comes back to the 15^th year of Jizerska, to the year 1982, when as many times before a day before the race the weather suddenly has changed. Good quality snow had just one day before the race changed into the mud, and temperature had raisen up to 4 degrees. As Jiří Langer, reporter from Liberec remembers in the Jizerska 50 book, by the morning the temperature was again under zero. Snow got frozen and slipper, so in the race of the men the part through Olivetská mountain had to be removed and the track got shorten to 48,5km.

“Start was at Hrabětická meadow,” remembers Heidi, “at the place, where the track was tapering from the downhill of Kralovka.” It was always super crowded, thousends of people spread on a huge meadow and in a while, they had to squeeze into a taper downhill. That was also the reason, why people at the meadow were tend to sprint. Everybody fought for the best position for the downhill. The track back then was not as well prepared as today. People skied through snowy stones, one leg up one leg down. That time I was at the start with my colleagues Hanka Bičíkouvá and Zdena Janovská. They finished at the 2^nd and 3^rd place. At Kralovka we already had a lead, so the frozen snow didn’t make us so much trouble.

However, my dad appeared in a worse situation. His skis broke at section Kralovka and he barely got out of the rolling crowd. There was nothing else to do than take the skis to the hands and sadly walk to the stadium at Bedřichov. He had never before neither after given up on the race.

When I arrived at the stadium and saw him there, standing next to the finish line, I couldn’t explain how he got there. It should be me, waiting there for him.

I would never forget his happy smile, when I finished at the first place. He immediately forgot about his bad luck and unfinished race and we were both celebrating my victory. My husband, who was at that moment working at the ski service at Janov nad Nisou, repaired dad´s skis, so he could still use them for next seasons.

Heidi Hanischová Suchánková was able to keep her physical condition on a great level in the following seasons too. After her first victory in 1982 in 25 km with the time 1:11:26, she won in other 3 races in 1987, 1991 and 1996. And in meanwhile she used to be visible on the stage at the 2^nd or 3^rd places.

As 42 years old, in 2001, Heidi finished on the 2^nd place. A big drama happened in 1983, when together with her team colleague managed to separate from the others very soon and on the 2 kilometre, they already had an advantage of a half a minute. Fairly they were exchanging on the first and second place all the races. They even had to challenge 3 kilometres, where was no snow, with skis in their hands. At the end it was really close, but Heide finished on the second place, just behind Gabriela.