Janusz Kołodziej: I will be fully healthy next year (interview)

In recent weeks, Janusz Kołodziej has been heroically fighting through an injury to help FOGO UNIA Leszno in the battle to stay in PGE Ekstraliga. The captain of the white and blue team was the main architect of the victory over BETARD SPARTA Wrocław. Kołodziej scored 14 points and a bonus.

The 40-year-old was one of the fastest riders on the track from the beginning of the meeting. Kołodziej managed to defeat Artem Laguta in a spectacular duel and remained unbeaten until the final race. After the match, he talked to ekstraliga.pl about his health condition and feelings after the crucial performance.

Joachim Piwek (ekstraliga.pl): Finally, a performance you’ve probably been waiting for. A weight off your shoulders?

Janusz Kołodziej (FOGO UNIA Leszno): Yes, but not just for me, for the whole team. The races haven’t been going well for us, and we were exceptionally keen on this victory, so indeed, when the victory was certain, a weight was lifted off our hearts.

Your team particularly struggled at the start of the match. Others mentioned difficulties in adjusting. What went wrong in the early races?

We’ve had a lot of bad luck with the weather this year. BETARD SPARTA Wrocław came weakened, but the conditions changed. There wasn’t much rain, but there was a tarp on the track, which didn’t make our task any easier.

Finally, you raced with a full team, but some riders are still feeling the effects of their crashes.

We have a hospital situation. Damian Ratajczak raced for the first time after an injury. Grzegorz Zengota came straight from the hospital to these races because he had a hernia and raced after a week without training or anything. Andzejs Lebedevs also definitely doesn’t feel perfect, as his injury was severe.

The match against BETARD SPARTA Wrocław was only the fourth this season with a full lineup.

We are really facing uphill this year. Someone might say we use it as an excuse, but it’s genuinely a tough year. Even our rivals in the battle to stay in the league have many things going right for them, but not necessarily for us.

You mentioned the whole team, but how are you feeling?

Actually, I’ll be ready next year. I still have the same problem. The progress is so slow, it’s disheartening. The difficulty is that I don’t have a wide range of motion or full strength. Everything was broken and torn, so it’s lucky that I can even ride at all.

The track conditions also probably play a big role?

If the track is even minimally more difficult, it becomes a real struggle. If we had lost this match, I would probably have ended the season, but we won, so we keep going.

Recently, there’s been a lot of talk about your club future if the battle to stay in the league fails. Could you briefly address all these rumors?

We’ll think about it later. It’s too early now. Why think about it when nobody knows? I have no idea what will happen, so let’s wait.