Michal Burian's Road to Green and Gold

Michal Burian has been obsessed with throwing the javelin since his early days when witnessing world record holder and Olympic champion Jan Železný throwing at his local club in the Czech Republic – so obsessed that decades later he finds himself just eight weeks out from his Paralympic debut for Australia in Tokyo.

Burian has “club foot” and competes in the F44 category, where he has become a force to be reckoned with having broken the national record whilst securing his eighth Paralympic qualifier with a throw of 61.24m.

But his journey to the Australian Paralympic Team was preceded by his journey to Australia, having lived in Řepín in the Czech Republich as a child with his grandparents who taught him the value of hard work through working in the forest.

Living an adventurous lifestyle, Burian would dabble in skiing, cycling, tennis, volleyball and canoeing before eventually deciding that javelin was his niche.

“I was amazed with the javelin throw and based on my ability to throw far I decided to start with javelin,” he said.

“By the age of 18, I was ranked second in the Czech Republic juniors and was part of the Czech junior national team preparing towards the European championship in Tallinn Estonia.”

Burian was soon told that due to his condition, he should not participate in athletics and instead merely celebrate the fact that he could walk – a suggestion that did not resonate with the determined athlete.

“I was broken, I did not know what to do,” he said.

Enter a fresh start in Australia, where Burian would apply his hardworking nature to adapt to his new lifestyle in a previously foreign country. Speaking little to no English, Burian worked at an Italian restaurant in Melbourne whilst taking English classes to bridge communication barriers.

“My Visa at that time was only for six months but I loved Australia, so I decided after three months that I never want to go back to Czech,” he said.

“It was an exciting but very difficult time. I struggled for money and I was working non-stop.”

Javelin took a back seat as Burian completed a diploma of sport and recreation management, whilst balancing his time between his fiancé Saranya and working for Hughes Brothers Removals.

“My boss Vincent was undoubtedly a huge part of my knowledge of Australian life, business and the mateship between the Australian community and friendliness towards anyone who comes to Australia,” he said.

Embracing the Australian way, the talented athlete worked hard behind the scenes when possible to maintain his javelin prowess – competing regularly over the summer season for his local club Sandringham.

Burian has recently decided to change jobs after conceding the workload was putting too much stress on his body prior to Tokyo, beginning his new role as project coordinator with Howgroup Commercial Furniture.

“With this change I now have stable working hours and a better opportunity to get ready for Tokyo while maintaining the necessary income,” he said.

Michal Burian has endured a different road to most en route to this year’s Paralympic Games, but there won’t be many more athletes prouder than him to pull on the green and gold.

“It has been a very challenging nine years of my life with sometimes up to seventeen-hour long days working trucks. But I wouldn’t change it looking back as it was the school of life for me,” he said.

Burian will compete in the F44 Javelin with hopes of bringing home a medal for his country.

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 25/6/2021