31.3.2021

Kateřina Smutná speaks of her plans. I want to take part in Jizerská 50 again in three years

No cross-country skiing fan could have missed the information that Kateřina Smutná finished her sporting career with the weekend races. Since Kateřina is one of the faces of Jizerská 50 we talked about much more and asked when she would return to the start of the Fifty after her planned break and about what she likes best besides cross-country skiing.

“It’s true I’ve finished my career, but if everything goes according to plan, I’ll be back for Jizerská 50 or the Vasa Race,” says Kateřina Smutná in the key section of our interview with this best long-distance cross-country skier of the last decade. Her fans know her for her two victories in Jizerská 50 (2015, 2017) and at the Vasa Race (2016), but Kateřina has managed much more, every winter weekend she drew hundreds of thousands of fans to TV screens to watch her fight for yet another success in the internationally recognized Visma Ski Classics series.

It’s been a couple of days since your last race in the Visma Ski Classics series. How do assess this year’s season?
At the start of the season during the first two races, I felt it wasn’t perfect, that I was still waiting for my best form. In the end, it came just for one of the most important races, Jizerská 50, and I’m grateful for that. That’s just what the plan was (she smiles). Vasaloppet went well too. Just the fact that I skied the majority of the race in the head group together with Marit Bjorgen was nice. I’ve known Marit since the time I did the world cup and I know she really wanted to win Vasaloppet, she had missed that.

You praised the final weekend 100k race. How did you feel about being fourth in the whole series?
I must say it felt great. Looking at the whole season this year I must admit that the fourth position was my max because the first three girls had stood on the winner’s podium several times and they were simply better. Personally, the final race was perfect, a fantastic ending to my participation in the series.

After the race, you announced that it was your last race. How long had this thought been on your mind?
Originally, I was meant to finish last year, but because of the situation around Covid-19, we reconsidered the decision and decided that I’d get ready for a few races and that Vasa Run would be the last race of my career. And since the Czech Republic had introduced a complete lockdown at the start of March and in Sweden you had no idea something like Covid-19 existed, we reconsidered again and stayed north for one more month, till the end of the season actually. And I’m really happy that I skied the last race with ease and without any cramps just as I had planned it before the start.

People talk a lot about whether this is really the end or if you are just taking a “break”. You’ve already told us before that you plan to return for Jizerská 50, is that true?
I’m closing my career, but if everything goes according to plan, I’d like to prepare for three more races after maternity. I’d like to take part in the three most beautiful ones – Jizerská 50, Marcialonga and Vasaloppet.

After your announcement a lot of people congratulated you on pregnancy, so what’s the situation, can we join the well-wishers?
(laughing) It was a bit of an awkward phrasing during the live broadcast. My pregnancy is still in the planning phase. But it’s true that I’ve received some congratulations.

There are now no races ahead of you, what will you do with your time?
After a two-day journey, we got back home to Austria and it’s still possible to ski here. I expect the snow will last for one more week so we’ll go on some trips, increase our vitamin D levels, and then we’ll take a well-deserved break. I usually can’t sit down for too long and after two weeks I will want to go cycling when it gets warm.

The life of a skier is about hard training and regular races. What will now move you forward when there is no training and no racing?
I’ve enjoyed giving massage for a long time so I’d like to devote my time to that and educate myself and get better at it. At the same time, I’d like to keep myself close to skiing somehow, for example, organize skiing camps for young skiers and pass on my 25 years of experience.

What else apart from cross-country skiing do you like best?
In the past few years I’ve got more interested in a healthy diet and thanks to that I think I managed to race pretty well until the age of 37. I also like cooking and baking, which is related to that. And I’ve almost forgotten to mention football which I’ve always liked to play since I was a girl because when we were students we refused to attend coaching without it (laughter).

I know that you always have a lot to say. When you look back at your long-distance skiing career, what do you see?
Looking back I’ve won twelve Ski Classics races, but I’ve always been most moved when winning Jizerská 50. Thanks to Czech audiences the atmosphere on the course was always fantastic. That’s really personal and powerful for me. All that is thanks to you, the organizers of the race, but also all the people and fans around it. The most precious victory is winning the Vasa Race plus the three third places. Then Marcialonga, two victories and two silvers, I’m also very proud of that. It is these three races that I’d love to take part in in the future if my body and my head allow that.