Patrik Pollák (born 6 September 1972) is a Slovak windsurfer, who specializes in Mistral and RS:X classes.[1] He became the first and only Slovak sailor to compete in three editions of the Summer Olympic Games (1996, 2000, and 2008), finishing outside the top twenty-five respectively in two different sailboards.[2][3] As a member of the sailing roster for Akademia TU Košice, Pollák trained most of his sporting career under the tutelage of his personal coach and father Jozef.[2]
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nickname | Flyin' Slovak |
| Nationality |  Slovakia |
| Born | 6 September 1972 Košice, Czechoslovakia |
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) |
| Weight | 67 kg (148 lb) |
| Sailing career | |
| Class | Sailboard |
| Club | Akademia TU Košice |
| Coach | Jozef Pollák |
Pollák made his Olympic debut in Atlanta 1996, finishing twenty-seventh in the inaugural men's Mistral sailboard with a net grade of 155.[4] At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Pollák started the series comfortably in the eleventh spot. He faded slightly towards the middle of the fleet for the remainder and never looked back, sitting him in lowly twenty-sixth overall with 188 net points.[5]
Pollák sought to bid for his third consecutive trip to the Games in Athens 2004, but he lost to the 20-year-old newcomer Martin Lapoš based on the federation's domestic selection criteria.[6]
Eight years after his maiden Games, Pollák qualified for his third Slovak team on a successful attempt in the RS:X class for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.[2] He finished third out of 50 windsurfers in the silver fleet to secure one of the nine quota spots available at the class-associated Worlds seven months earlier in Auckland, New Zealand.[3] Struggling to catch a large fleet of windsurfers to the front, Pollák scored a net grade of 243 to steer and maintain his pace for a thirtieth overall placement at the end of the ten-leg series.[7][8]
References
edit- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Patrik Pollák". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
- ^ a b c "Čínske more ako domáce ihrisko" [Chinese sea as a home playground] (in Slovak). SME. 19 July 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
- ^ a b "Sailing against the current". SME. 17 March 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
- ^ "Atlanta 1996: Sailing – Men's Mistral One Design Class". Atlanta 1996. LA84 Foundation. p. 451. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
- ^ "Sydney 2000: Sailing – Men's Mistral One Design Class". Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. p. 51. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
- ^ "Lapoš chce vylepšiť umiestnenia Polláka" [Lapoš wants to improve Pollák's placement] (in Slovak). Slovakia: Pravda. 13 August 2004. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
- ^ "Beijing 2008: Men's RS:X Class". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 5 January 2014. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
- ^ "Pollák opäť klesol o jednu priečku, je 30" [Pollák dropped again by one spot to 30] (in Slovak). Slovakia: Pravda. 13 August 2004. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
External links
edit- Patrik Pollák at World Sailing
- Patrik Pollák at Olympics.com
- Patrik Pollák at Olympic.sk (in Slovak)
- Patrik Pollák at Olympedia
- Patrik Pollák at NBC 2008 Olympics website at the Wayback Machine (archived 20 July 2012)
