SNS Honours Former Cycling Coach Hatapka with Martin Razus Award

Bratislava, June 6 (TASR) – The Slovak National Party (SNS) on Tuesday granted the Martin Razus Award to former cycling coach Kamil Hatapka, marking the 146th anniversary since the party was established, TASR learnt on the same day.

Each year, the party honours a personality who has made a significant contribution to the development of national awareness and Slovak statehood.

Hatapka, 85, is a major inspiration for resolving problems in sport, said SNS leader and Parliamentary Chairman Andrej Danko.

“He [Hatapka] was one of the first people to join SNS in the 1990s. He’s also a person who, as an MP, demonstrated in his approach to sport that his success wasn’t unjustified and that he deserves great respect from society,” said Danko.

The present-day SNS was set up in March 1990, building on the ideological tradition of the SNS that was active between 1871-1938.

Born in Spisska Nova Ves (Presov region) on March 3, 1932, Hatapka is widely considered to have been second to none in cycling coaching in the former Czechoslovakia. After the demise of Communism, he became a prominent figure of the resurrected SNS. He was elected as an MP to the Czechoslovak Parliament in 1992 and went on to operate as an MP in the Slovak Parliament between 1994-96, whereupon he embarked on a diplomatic career.

The honour is named after Martin Razus (1888-1937), an eminent Slovak poet, writer and playwright, politician and Lutheran priest.