Universiade premiere of the talented sprinter ViKtÓria Forster

Sprinter Victoria Forster has been an athletic hero in recent weeks. She improved the Slovak record in the 100m hurdles to 12.82 seconds at the Zlatá tretra world event in Ostrava. She will travel in top form to her debut FISU World University Games in Chengdu, China.

“I am very excited to go to China. It will be something big for me. It will be my first time at the Universiade.”

Introduce yourself as a student. What are you studying and why did you decide to go to university?

“I am a student at the University of Constantine the Philosopher in Nitra and I study sport and recreation. I decided to go to school due to the fact that I want to continue playing sports and the school helps me to be able to play sports. And I’m attracted by the possibilities of the university and it’s easier with sports.”

What does a person have to imagine themselves with under the field of sports and recreation?

“It’s not only professional sports, but also sports for kids and regular people – amateurs. I admire every person who goes out to play sports. Even if he is not a pro.”

For athletes, competitions often mean a hotel and a sports ground. The city and nature are not much to look at and take in. Are you planning to see anything from China?

“It depends on how we have free time. To go to China and not see it would be a real shame. We’ll definitely try to go and see something if there’s an opportunity, but the race is paramount.”

What ambition are you going to the Universiade with? Do you already know your opponents, with whom you will be fighting for the highest ranks? You have a personal best of 12.82 seconds, which is about half a second behind your best performance of the year.

“I don’t know exactly which hurdlers will be on the start list. I’m definitely going into the Universiade with the mindset that I want to do a good result. I’m going to focus on that and hopefully I can do that and I can concentrate so that I don’t go crazy out there and do well.”

You’re still a young athlete and have a big part of your career ahead of you. Are events like this a big school for you?

“I have to say that I’m lucky to get to the big events. It’s a great school for future events. The Chengdu Universiade will be a first for me. We’ll see what kind of experience these events bring, but I learn something new at every event, whether it’s from better athletes or in the warm-up, but also in the actual start, it’s still a school for me.”

The athletics events of the World Universiade are held from August 1 to 6 at the Shuangliu Sports Centre Stadium and a total of 50 gold medals are awarded.

• Victoria Forster will compete in the 100m sprint and 100m hurdles at the 31st FISU World University Games. 
• The heats of the 100m hurdles are scheduled for the first day of athletics competition on 1 August at 9:30am (3:30am our time) and the finals on 2 August at 9:15pm (3:15pm our time). 
• The 100 hurdles heats are August 3 at 9:30 a.m. (3:30 a.m. our time) and the finals are August 4 at 8:25 p.m. (2:25 p.m. our time).