Balázs Virth's prediction about Kristóf Milák

"Winning in itself was not the goal, and I said at the beginning: I think it is very important that he improves his time result and does not just sit on the result, so to speak, and win easily," he said in the annual evaluation interview given to the current channel M1 on Friday about his student's world championship triumph in Budapest in the 44 year-old specialist, who considers it lucky from the point of view of motivation that Milák did not manage to lower his time under 1:50 minutes, because that way he will have something to drive next year as well.

The master coach took control of Kristóf Milák's preparation after the pentathlon games in Tokyo, and was confident that he would achieve another world record in the 100 meters.

"After swimming in the semi-final, I absolutely thought he was capable of it, but in the final I saw after the first three paces that he wouldn't be able to do it because he was tired. There was already the relay, the 200 butterfly, and he was a little tired," he concluded. Virth's evaluation of the WC, then added that he still believes in the 100-meter butterfly record.

According to the coach from Újpest, the young talent will have a big role in the relay next season in addition to his main competitions, and he also sees serious opportunities in the 100-meter sprint.

"Obviously, we prioritize the two butterflies, and I also think the 4 times 200m relay is very strong. The national team captain Csaba Sós also has a lot of faith in this team, which is why I put it in third place. Looking at the individual numbers, I think maybe the 100m relay the most ideal," Virth said, then added that he and his student would decide on this together.

However, Balázs Virth was not satisfied with the star athlete's performance this year and considers the 2024 pentathlon games in Paris to be the main test of strength:

"If it goes as well as the previous Olympics, then I can say that I did what I could. If I could keep such an athlete at that level, and maybe even develop him even further, then I will be worthy of what I took over," he said. .

Among Virth's other students, Márton Richárd won a silver medal in the 200-meter butterfly at the European Championships in Rome behind his training partner, while Boglárka Telegdy-Kapás, the former world and European champion, was hampered by injuries and illnesses. The coach of Újpest spoke optimistically about the latter after the summer break: "in September, I saw in his eyes that I got the Bogi back from a year ago".

(Source: Source: sportrajongo.hu, mti/Photo: pixabay)