Thomas Keller Medal finalist: The versatile Chalupa

In the Czech Republic the name Vaclav Chalupa is synonymous with the sport of rowing. His career stretched over 22 years and was epitomised by his versatility, enthusiasm, longevity and absolute sense of fair play.   

The Czech Republic’s Vaclav Chalupa is this year’s fifth and final Thomas Keller Medal finalist to be announced.

Chalupa retired at the World Rowing Championships of 2009 after racing to silver in the coxed pair. In a fitting end, 2009 was 20 years after Chalupa took his first medal, a silver at the 1989 World Rowing Championships. Over those years Chalupa was known for his perseverance, commitment and humility.

His international career began in 1984 when he first made the Czechoslovakian national team as a junior. He then went on to represent his country at the Seoul Olympic Games in 1988 as a 20 year old. By the end of his career Chalupa had raced at six Olympic Games, the final one being Beijing in 2008, winning one Olympic silver medal during that time. He never missed a World Rowing Championships and won five silvers and three bronze medals in that time. The search for that elusive gold medal was one of his motivations to keep going for so long.

Chalupa’s biggest achievement came at the earlier end of his career. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, Chalupa finished second in the final of the men’s single to the great German sculler Thomas Lange.

Well respected and loved in the Czech Republic, Chalupa was the flag bearer for his nation at the opening ceremony of the 1996 Olympic Games. He has a sprint regatta named after him, the Chalupa Cup, which he uses to promote rowing and he has repeatedly ranked high in the nationwide best athlete surveys.

Chalupa is aptly described in his nomination for the Thomas Keller Medal: “Vaclav Chalupa is a very modest athlete who gets on well with his opponents and has excellent relationship with his coach Zdenek Pecka. He has friends and admirers amongst rowers and rowing fans across the world and is an outstanding ambassador for Czech rowing and the spirit of fair play.

“Chalupa has been known among fellow rowers and the Czech sports public as a model of modesty and selflessness. When asked in a television interview whether he would become a coach, he replied: ‘Being a coach is a mission. A coach must be tough, which I am not. When something is difficult and painful, I prefer doing it myself rather than torturing someone else.’”

“He is a role model for younger rowers because of his strength of character and sense for fair play and is a sports personality respected by the general public. He also undertakes a lot of voluntary work to promote the growth of the sport of rowing.”

Chalupa is a finalist for rowing’s most prestigious award, the Thomas Keller Medal. Nominated through public submissions, Chalupa has the characteristics that qualify him for the award.

The Medal winner will be decided by the Thomas Keller Medal committee and will be announced in June. The medal will be presented to the recipient during the final stage of the Rowing World Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland, from 9 to 11 July 2010.

The World Rowing team values feedback.