She took up sport shooting when she was almost an adult. Today, as a student at the Faculty of Business and Management at BUT, she is a European champion.

Originally, she thought she was going to be a tennis player. However, thanks to her gun-loving father, Martina Matějková accidentally got into shooting sports. Although her coach initially turned her down, saying that she was too old to start a new sport at the age of 17, she quickly collected titles such as national and European champion within a few years. Now, this promising sports shooter dreams of competing in the Olympics while also preparing for a career as an HR manager.

Martina Matějková has been playing tennis since she was four years old. Influenced by her father’s passion for hunting, she also shot small-bore rifles for fun. However, she probably never thought that on the threshold of adulthood, she would exchange her tennis racket for a gun and begin to collect one success after another in sport shooting. "It wasn't until I was seventeen that my dad wondered if my sister and I would like to try shooting. My sister wasn't really into it, but I started to enjoy it. By chance, at the very first training session, we met a gentleman whose daughter was also involved in sport shooting," Martina Matějková says, adding that they got a contact for a coach from him, whom they then tried to reach. "He turned me down at first when he found out how old I was. But in the end, he said we would try it because I would be more sensible due to my age, so maybe I would listen to him more than younger kids," she adds with a laugh.

His bet on Martina Matějková paid off quickly. Already in her first year of training, she became the junior national champion, despite the fact that the vast majority of her fellow shooters had three or four more years of training under their belts. "My tennis background definitely came in handy; I have a trained eye. I can also judge distances and link body and eye movements," says the talented athlete.

However, she had to overcome one major problem besides her late start: an eye defect. "I have diopters and a dominant left eye, so my optometrist gave me eye exercises for two hours a day," says Martina Matějková.

In addition to shooting training, eye exercises, gym workouts, and constant competitions, she also manages her studies at the Faculty of Business and Management at BUT, where she is studying business economics. "I studied economics in high school and enjoyed it, so I was looking for a field similar to my focus in high school," she explains, adding that HR appeals to her the most and is something she would like to pursue one day. She manages her studies mainly thanks to her individual study plan and arrangements with her teachers. "If it turns out that I can't keep up with the exercises, I arrange individual make-ups. And if an exam is scheduled for a time when I need to be elsewhere, the teacher usually extends the capacity. Everyone is very helpful," Martina Matějková adds.

Although she hopes to put her knowledge into practice one day, for now, Martina Matějková plans to concentrate primarily on her sporting performance. She hopes that if she can maintain her success, she could qualify for the Summer Olympics in four years.

(zeh)

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