„I had a small incident there before the race, because the Soviet delegation was supposed to arrive at that time. And they said that the representatives of the disciplines must go there and welcome them. They said I was destined. I asked why I was selected, why they didn’t draw lots, why me. I said I wouldn’t go if I wasn't drawn. That it would be fair if we drew lots. We were all even, and that I would go if I was drawn. So I didn't go there and they walked around me for two or three days and I didn't know whether they were going to send me home, it was looked at terribly. I was afraid they would knock me out of the World Cup, I was so so stressed." - "And you didn't want to go there because of the occupation in 1968?" - "At that time we were all fielded against the Russians, even though we had clouds of acquaintances there and a bunch of friends. We raced with those competitors, but it was nationwide because of the occupation. When a Russian jumped, people whistled, the hundred and thirty thousand spectators whistled because of the occupation. The mood was outright off.“
„For me it was a great experience in Reit im Winkl because everything was clean, tidy, flower pots everywhere. They took care of us with everything, they were races where there was a ceremonial start and finish, awarding of prizes. I think the year after that we went there again. At that time I came third. We chose the prizes from the beautiful prizes offered. I chose sealskin boots for third place. God Rázl said: 'Jesus Mary, Láda, what did you do, what did you choose? If you took a radio over there, you could have sold it, turned it around, you could have made a lot of money off of it. And you choose sealskin boots!' Then I walked in those boots for many years. Even until the World Championships in the Tatras, that means an awfully long time. They were excellent shoes and lasted me a long time. I could step into a puddle and they would just bristle. I guess I didn't go through as much as Bohouš calculated for me.“
„Back then, the announcement was supposed to be after the race, but because I won, they wanted to turn it into a climax, to make it very festive. So I was lucky that they announced it at the last race, at the jump on the big bridge, when an incredible amount of people came. As we were talking, there came, no one had counted it and will never count it again, one hundred and thirty thousand people. They handed me the gold medal in front of them in that stormy atmosphere. This medal presentation enhanced my experience of that race even more, which I don't think many competitors have even experienced."
„I started that run and I remember that I couldn't even start, that I was terribly tired and faint. My body was exhausted, not by preparation, as I would say, simply in anticipation of the release of energy. I said to myself: Hell, I might not even move. However, one guy, a Russian, was going in front of me, then he finished second. I knew that if I passed him and was eight seconds behind him, I would beat him. I was so motivated that I had to finish it. I finished it somewhere at the back in Mlejnice, at that time the fifteen kilometre track was extremely difficult, only two years later they made it easier. They said that the profiles are demanding and difficult. And they started making them easier, but now they’re starting to make the tracks harder again. So I overtook the Russian and he followed me. I couldn't shake him off, he stuck with me for a good seven kilometres. I passed him about three kilometres before the finish line. And I gave him the twelve fifteen seconds it took to beat him.“
He refused to welcome the occupiers. Then he won over the Soviets
Ladislav Rygl at the top of the decisive climb of the running part of the Nordic combined race, in which he won the title of world champion in 1970 (photo: Alexandr Tóth)
Ladislav Rygl Sr. was born on July 16, 1947 in Kořenov in the Jizera Mountains. His mother Olga did not compete in sports, his father Ladislav skied a lot and organised competitions. He also led his son to sports, who started with jumping and running in Harrachov, where he went to school. At the beginning of the 1960s, the parents moved to Tanvald, where Ladislav Rygl Sr. was also involved in athletics and tennis with the other boys. They made weight lifting and pole vaulting sectors themselves on a litter place. During his studies at the Tanvald gymnasium, he was supported a lot in sports by the physical education teacher Vladimír Marousek. It was then that he made it to the junior national team in the Nordic combined discipline, consisting of jumping and cross-country skiing. After graduating in 1966, he began studying at the Faculty of Physical Education and Sports of Charles University in Prague. He won a silver medal at the 1967 European Junior Championships in Murau, Austria. At the Olympic Games in Grenoble in 1968, he came in sixteenth, two falls in the run deprived him of a place in the top ten. He was most successful in the 1969/70 season, after which he was ranked second in the world association rankings and won the world championship in the High Tatras. After that, he had to undergo a difficult operation with a herniated disc, which marked his further career. He could not train fully and said goodbye to international competitions with ranking 26th at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan. In the following years, he trained in sports classes in Tanvald and in 1975 he was at the founding of the Centre for Top Sports in Vrchlabí. He married cross-country skier Milena Chlumová. A son and a daughter were born to them. Ladislav Rygl Sr. coached the B and A team of the Swiss national team in the 1990s, and later worked as a coach in Dukla Liberec and the Czech national team. He led his son Ladislav (born 1976), who won three World Cup races and was placed on the podium thirteen times. In 2021, Ladislav Rygl Sr. lived in Vrchlabí, and his grandson David competed in the Czech junior showjumping national team at the time.
Ladislav Rygl at the top of the decisive climb of the running part of the Nordic combined race, in which he won the title of world champion in 1970 (photo: Alexandr Tóth)
Ladislav Rygl at the top of the decisive climb of the running part of the Nordic combined race, in which he won the title of world champion in 1970 (photo: Alexandr Tóth)
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