From now on, he will hold the position of Athletic Director, which was established by the association last December.
Three-time world Olympic gymnast and six-time European champion Krishtian Berke announced his retirement at Thursday’s online press conference for the Hungarian Federation (MATS). The 35-year-old justified his decision by years of a shoulder injury, which he made last December. This was announced by Zoltán Magyar, President of MATSZ
Berkey is now the sports director of the association that was created last December.
As a contender for KSI SE, Berkey won his first gold medal at the Hungary Junior Championships in 2002, and was second in the European Junior Championships. He had played six times by then, but became a specialist in equestrian due to an ankle injury. He achieved his first international adult success in 2004: he won the World Cup in Rio de Janeiro and a bronze medal at the European Championships in Ljubljana. He recently started in the 2017 continental race in Cluj Napoca, where he won a silver medal, but injured his shoulder after that and had to undergo surgery five times so far. After Zoltán Magyar and János Sivadó, he is the third Hungarian gymnast, whom the International Federation named the gymnastics element – in 2016 – in the horse’s swing. Burke recalled that all his desire was to bid farewell to the crowd and his racing career, but his shoulders could no longer bear the load.
“We’ve gone to the extreme, or even beyond, quite often, as my shoulder has been in a sluggish state for two years. The doctors also said that I wouldn’t be able to bear the burden. In civilian life, I’m totally fine with it, but it’s no longer appropriate.” For elite sports… It took me a long time to accept this
He said.
Berkey said that he has no reason to complain, there can be no sadness, and in the future he wants to help gymnasts in other roles. To this end, he graduated from the University of Debrecen last year with a degree in Mathematical Organization. He culminated in the 2012 London Olympics, where he won a gold medal, but he mentioned that the 2005 European Championships in Debrecen is closest to his heart. He first revealed at the age of 15 that he wanted to become an Olympic champion, but at a press conference he mentioned that he had not made it to the 2008 Beijing, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo Games which have been postponed to this summer. . Istvan Kovacs – who had been Berkey’s coach since 1993 – put it this way, his contestant was very calm and very disciplined, he trusted the coach’s instructions, trusted him, and what he told him he was always trying to do was his secret. Success. Zoltán Magyar said he is sure that Berki, as a sports director, can help the association a lot, and that his name and position will make a big difference in Hungarian gymnastics.
I am also sure that we will benefit greatly from your youth, motivation and knowledge. This situation is very complicated. He has a job description, but I already told Krisztián that he has to do a lot more than that.
– said the head of MATSZ.
Burke responded by starting a new career for him, which is perhaps more challenging than his career as an athlete, as he must see it in all disciplines. – I look forward to working together and assignments as I’ve said many times that I want to stay close to sports. He said that I would continue to do my best to ensure that Hungarian gymnastics was in the right place.
