Two-time World Champ and Olympic gold medalist Daniel Gyurta will not compete in his signature event, the 200 breast, at this year’s European Championships, according to his coach.
SwimVortex reports that head Hungarian coach Laszlo Kiss broke the news at Hungarian Nationals over the weekend, saying “Now the focus is on the short-course World Championships in December, for Berlin [Gyurta] will prepare for the 50m and 100m solo and relays.”
Kiss cited “a couple of minor problems in… preparations,” saying he and Gyurta agreed it would be best for the former World Record-holder to skip the 200 at next month’s European Championships in Berlin.
This doesn’t appear to be a permanent lineup change, though, as Kiss said he expects Gyurta to arrive at next summer’s World’s and the 2016 Olympic Games the following year with “renewed hunger” after the time away from the 200 breast.
Gyurta’s absence means Great Britain’s Michael Jamieson is now the clear-cut front-runner. Jamieson leads the 2014 world ranks with a 2:07.76, almost a second ahead of Germany’s Marco Koch.
@GYURTA DOESNT LOSE …Gyurta was 15 at the 2004 olympics :(, still impressive !!!
From what I read from his coach, it also serves to keep him hungry. Since he’s not tapering for a 200 breast this season, he won’t end up world ranked #1 for the year, and he may lose the shot at a world record this year after Koseki swims at the Asian Games, so he’ll have something to work for and chase heading into Kazan. It’s pretty smart considering this is a very low-stakes summer for international swimming, and you’ve got to do what you can to keep things fresh when you’ve been on top for more than a decade and have won every major accolade possible in your pet event.
well, if Gyurta wins the 200 breast, nothing happens, he did the minimum.
everything else is a shame.
remember, he won a silver medal on the olympics 10 years ago, probably too much pressure.
focus is on rio2016
Can someone please explain the benefit of an olympic champion and WR holder skipping out on his best event?! Not being fully “prepared” isn’t a legitimate excuse. Gyurta isn’t the only one who has chosen not to enter his/her best event or to skip the meet all together (I can’t think of any others but I remember reading about some). What would a poor swim really do for these guys/girls. If it’s a mental thing, how are they possibly at the level they are?
Since the 2004 Olympics when Gyurta as a 14 year old medaled in the 200breast, he almost never looses this race. Just check all competitions over the past 3 years that he has raced in, and you will see that he hasn’t lost even once.
He is probably not in his best shape, and more importantly hates to lose, so he would rather skip it than place second.
So hating to lose now means just don’t try?! If he really hates to lose then he should race. If he ends up losing that will make him hungrier than not swimming it. It is baffleing to me that an athlete of this caliber won’t race because he is afraid to lose.
Ranomi Kromowidjojo is also skipping Euro because she’s not “well prepared”.
I am a huge fan of her, and I wished she’d swim. But in light of latest development from Sjoestrom, she’ll get trounced by Sjoestrom, so it won’t be good for her mental strength.