Pleasantville Olympian Returns Home
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Pleasantville resident Valdó Szucs competed at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Hungarian-born and current Pleasantville resident Valdó Szucs recently returned home after competing at the 2021 Olympic Games. Szucs, who ran the 110-meter hurdles in Tokyo, was just eight-hundredths of a second away from making it to the finals.
The 26-year-old athlete has made a name for himself in the Pleasantville community, where he has lived with his wife Amber and two stepchildren since 2019. Szucs can often be found training on the track at Pleasantville High School.
Already back to a rigorous training schedule, with competitions slated to take place in both the United States and abroad, Szucs spoke to The Examiner News about his experience racing in Tokyo and what’s next for him, including his plans for Paris in 2024.
The Examiner News: How was your experience in Toyko at the Olympics?
Valdó Szucs: It was absolutely wonderful. It was a childhood dream for me to compete at the Olympic Games, and now it’s just a dream come true. I’m really, really happy. Obviously, I wanted to get into the final, but I was a little bit short on that. I think it was eight-hundredths of a second that I missed out on the final. I finished 13th in the world and sixth place in Europe. So I’m pretty happy, but I’m hungry for more.
The Examiner News: What was the atmosphere like at the Olympics, especially this year not being able to have family and friends there supporting you?
Valdó Szucs: It was a bit strange that we had this huge stadium without any fans allowed in. One of my other childhood dreams was I wanted my mom to be there with me at my first Olympic Games. But that will happen in 2024 in Paris. The atmosphere was good. The volunteers and everybody was really helpful. They wanted to create the atmosphere for us. They wanted the best for us basically, but it was a bit strange without the fans being in the stadium. But hopefully, next year and in the next couple of years, the fans are allowed back to the stadium, and we can compete in front of them.
The Examiner News: How does it feel running in a packed stadium with a lot of people versus an empty stadium? Do you feed off the crowd, or did the empty stadium allow you to focus better?
Valdó Szucs: You feed off the crowd and you obviously feel that you are in the limelight. So for me personally, it gives me a huge boost running in front of big crowds and fans and family. But, yeah, it was a bit strange. I really missed that from the Olympic Games.
The Examiner News: How did it feel to be representing your home country of Hungary?
Valdó Szucs: It’s always nice to represent your country, especially at the biggest stage of the sport. I’ve not gotten used to it, but since I was, I think, 16 years old, that was my first international race and that was the first time that I put the Hungarian vest on me. And it was a huge privilege. And since then, I’m really honored to represent my country in any big championships, for example, the European Championships or World Championships. Now, the Olympic Games. It’s absolutely amazing.
The Examiner News: What does the support you receive in Pleasantville feel like? I know you do a lot of your training at Pleasantville High School, and you’ve gained a local following here as well.
Valdó Szucs: It’s absolutely amazing. I don’t know what to say because I’ve never felt this much love, not even in my hometown. There was a summer camp and I think 50, maybe even 60 kids were there, and they were chanting my name. So they knew me beforehand, and they were coming up to me taking pictures, asking for autographs. For me as an athlete, it just feels good. I think I’m a good role model for them. When I go to the track, there is always someone there to just cheer for me and say nice things to me. I’m absolutely loving that.
The Examiner News: Are you taking a break from training or are you getting right back to it?
Valdó Szucs: No, basically, I had two days off. I went back to training. Because I have a couple of more competitions coming up, so I’m flying back to Europe at the end of August. I think I will have four more races this season, and I will finish my season in September. Then after that, I will have like two weeks off of training. So that’s when I can go have a little bit of travel, a little bit of vacation and just rest.
The Examiner News: What does your typical training schedule look like?
Valdó Szucs: I train about eight times a week. On Thursday and Friday, I have double sessions, and my only rest day is Saturday. Every session is around two to two and a half hours. Every Friday, they are long ones. It’s almost five hours that day, so I really need to rest on Saturday. I hurdle three times a week, have weightlifting sessions three times a week, have running sessions two times a week, and I also do Pilates and yoga once or twice a week.
The Examiner News: How did you initially get into running?
Valdó Szucs: I tried multiple sports, as I think every other kid does as well. My dad was a professional basketball player in Hungary, so obviously I went into basketball. I was a tall guy when I was a little kid. I tried soccer. I tried ice hockey. I tried so many other sports, but I really didn’t like team sports. So when I was like 10 or 11 years old, I said to my mom, “I just want to do an individual sport.” I tried tennis, but I didn’t like it that much. And my mom took me to her old coach. My mom used to be a track and field athlete as well. She was a high jumper, and she took me down to her old coach and she said to him, “Valdó wants to run.” And that’s when it started initially when I was 11 years old. I just wanted to run, and I just wanted to be by myself.
The Examiner News: When you started running as a little kid, did you have your sights on the Olympics?
Valdó Szucs: Yes. It was 2004 when I was nine years old. I was watching the Olympic Games on TV with my mom in the background. And I think one of the Hungarian shooters won a gold medal. And I was ecstatic. I was like, oh my god, she’s Hungarian and she won a gold medal. It was absolutely amazing. And I asked my mom, “Can I do this as well?” I just wanted to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games in running. And she said, “yes, if you want to do that.” I was like, “yes, I want to do it.” And since then, I just want to get that medal from the Olympic Games.
The Examiner News: Do you have your sights set on Paris 2024?
Valdó Szucs: Yes, and beforehand, we have so many other competitions. These next couple of years are going to be packed with really high-quality competitions. For example, next year, in 2022, we have the European Championships in Munich, Germany, and after that, we come to Eugene, Oregon for the 2022 World Championships. And after that, in 2023, I have the home World Championships, which is going to be in Budapest. And after that, we’re going to have Paris 2024.
Bailey Hosfelt is a full-time Reporter at Examiner Media, covering LGBTQ+ issues, climate change, the environment, and more. You can follow Bailey on Twitter at @baileyhosfelt.
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