“When discussing the topic of significant achievements, we Hungarians can be rightly proud, because there are countless great achievements associated with the sons and daughters of our country. Our scholars, scientists and researchers have substantially helped humanity to live a more convenient and high-quality life. However, when we talk about achievements, we cannot forget about our athletes either. Among the students of the University of Debrecen, including the Faculty of Economics and Business, there are quite a few outstanding athletes, Olympians and even Olympic champions. When individual athletes or teams enter a competition, they normally compete against an opponent of almost equal skills and abilities. The reason why Gábor Rakonczay's performance is indeed unique, special and unparalleled is because he fought and overcame the power of nature, the infinity of the ocean,” said Éva Bácsné Bába, Vice Dean for Strategy and Communication at the University of Debrecen's Faculty of Economics and Business, in her opening address of the meet-a-celeb event.
The head of the Institute of Sports Economics and Management believes that Gábor Rakonczay's achievements can serve as an inspiration not only for the athletes of our university sports club, called DEAC, but also for the entire university community and, in fact, all young people.
At the meet-a-celebrity-in-person occasion, organized jointly by T5 Media Agency and the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Debrecen, Gábor Rakonczay talked about his childhood, his relationship with sports and his love of exploration.
“I was thirteen years of age when a teacher of mine told me about the marathon events. Up until that point in time, I had not run distances of more than five kilometers and, basically, lived in a glass house. ‘Amazing,’ I thought, ‘I have to do that.’ But those around me were shocked. ‘You're gonna stop growing,’ ‘You're setting yourself up for a lifetime of failure,’ ‘Maybe, in five years' time’ (because the age limit was 18 then), was all I heard from them. Five years? To me, that meant never. Now, that was on a Friday. On Saturday, after our family lunch, I was off to ‘play’ with one of my junior brothers, who accompanied me on his bike. It was in the middle of winter, and we got back home four hours later, to the utter dismay of our parents. Afterwards, my dad had a chat with me about how I didn't have to do everything I learnt at school,” recalled Gábor Rakonczay.
He also added that he was prouder of this achievement than of reaching the South Pole and that the experience would still continue to be a source of pride for him.
The successful expedition across the Atlantic Ocean has been Gábor Rakonczay's latest extreme trip. At the oDEon event, he spoke about his plans for the future, saying that he would like to dedicate the next twelve years of his life in sport to running. He won the World Ultramarathon Competition in 2023 in Policoro, Italy, with a distance of 848.5 kilometers, and his aim now is to surpass this in the future.
“Regarding outstanding achievements, you can only think in terms of years or even decades of preparation. Also, performance is always determined in the mind, while the body can be simply prepared for it. You create your limits inside your head. Your goal can only be to make the most of this short period of your life,” he added.
This extreme sportsman considers the lack of patience as his weakest point. He admits that quite a few of his injuries, such as a broken finger during this most recent expedition, were caused by not waiting for his body to catch up with his mind.
“The ocean is very much like a mirror: it shows us how we have prepared for the journey. It is a pass-fail exam with only two grades, one of which is life, while the other one.... Fear adds an extra piece of motivation to constantly work on. Before each one of my expeditions, I consciously prepare for critical moments, or ‘exit points,’ because these moments always come along,” he said.
Before setting off on his cross-ocean voyage on board the "42" on December 23 last year, Gábor Rakonczay decided not to ask for rescue in case anything would go wrong.
The athlete explained this the following way: “the kind of purity and straightforwardness that is present in the middle of the ocean, or in the Arctic for that matter, is indeed very close to man, but here, in everyday life, it is difficult to create and experience.”
Press Centre - ÉE
