European Rising Star Michal Rada to Sportal.bg: Many People Compare Me to Karsten Warholm

Michal Rada was named the Men’s European Athletics Rising Star for 2026. He received the accolade at a special Gala in Lausanne, where Bulgaria's Viktoriya Angelova scooped the Women’s Rising Star award. Gianmarco Tamberi was crowned European Athlete of the Year, with Audrey Werro taking the top women’s honor.

Rada enjoyed a remarkable year, capturing the World U20 title in the 400m hurdles. The Czech talent also broke the European U20 record with a blistering time of 48.59 seconds. Following the ceremony, Rada gave an exclusive interview to Sportal.bg.

- You are the Rising Star of the Year. How does it feel to win this award?
- It feels incredible—the most rewarding feeling I have ever experienced. It's truly amazing, and I am honestly speechless.

- Did you expect to win this award?
- I'd be lying if I said no, although the other athletes also had really, really strong seasons. I think all of us deserved this trophy, but I am truly grateful that I was the one who won it.

- You had an amazing season with a European record. How does it feel to be a European record holder?
- It feels really, really great because that was the goal I chased for three years. Every time I went to practice, my mindset was that I really wanted to break that record. When it finally happened, I was just so, so happy.

- Men's 400m hurdles is currently at an exceptionally high level. What do you think about Alison dos Santos's world record, or Karsten's before that?
- Those times actually made me reconsider my choice of event. No, just kidding. They are incredible times. A few years ago, nobody would have expected athletes to run that fast. It's very motivating, so we'll see how close I can get to them.

- Do you believe it is possible to get close to them in the future?
- It is possible. As we saw, Karsten Warholm is also a European athlete and held the world record for quite a long time. But getting there will take an immense amount of time, hard work, and dedication. The potential is there, but I need to stay healthy and train extremely hard.

- You joked about switching events, but which discipline would you compete in if not the 400m hurdles?
- Well, before I started taking the 400m hurdles more seriously, I did the long jump, high jump, and indoor heptathlon. I did a bit of everything. So if I wasn't running the 400m hurdles, I would probably be doing the long jump or the decathlon.

- I believe Karsten also competed in the heptathlon and decathlon before focusing on the 400m hurdles.
- Yes, many people actually compare us because he also came from a multi-events background. So, yeah, that is a nice little similarity.