Czechia’s Jaroslav Pollert finished his term on the Executive Committee of the Czech Olympic Committee after 35 years.
Mr Pollert, who was the International Canoe Federation Canoe Slalom Committee Chair from 1996 to 2000, was however voted as an Honorary Member by the Czech Olympic Committee.
World champion Vit Prindis, Olympic silver medalist Lukas Rohan and Czech Canoe Union President Stanislav Jezek were among the guests present as Mr Pollert was honoured.
“I am functionally retiring, but I still have the club T-shirt with the inscription Czech Olympic Committee in my heart,” he said as quoted by the Czech Canoe Union.
“Over the years, I have learned that we cannot divide sports into small and large.
“Canoeing, my sport, is a permanent part of the Olympic family and it doesn't matter that it is so-called small.
“Surely everyone will agree that from the beginning to today it has been great in its results both at the level of the sports representation and in the everyday fulfilment and mission of sport: preserving all the moral ideals of human society.”
Having served as the President of the Czech Canoe Union from 2006 to 2014, Mr Pollert played a key role as Canoe Slalom remained on the Olympic programme at Sydney 2000.
At the 2024 ICF Congress in Antalya, Turkiye, he was made an ICF Honorary Member.
A three-time world champion in slalom, Mr Pollert was an expert in hydrodynamics and was part of the faculty of civil engineering of the Czech Technical University.
Along with his son Jaroslav, they played roles in the construction of the Olympic venues at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
The former European Canoe Association vice-chairman has also authored or co-authored more than a hundred professional publications and lectures at domestic and foreign conferences.
“First, I enjoyed sporting successes and then I looked into scientific work. I really enjoyed experimenting and inventing new things,” he said.
“What I learned in water management, I then reflected on the designs of water slalom courses.”
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