One of Mikov’s priorities is supporting talented young people connected to the Bohemian Switzerland region. One of them is 14-year-old Adéla Bryndová, a rising star in shotgun shooting at flying targets—known as trap shooting.
As the daughter of a family of hunters, she started shooting an air rifle at the age of five and competed in her first shooting competition at ten. But not yet with a shotgun—as she recalls, she picked one up for the first time exactly one week after she tried to hit pinecones with it, just like Cinderella in a fairy tale.
However, the environment of the Čtverec shooting range in Dolní Poustevna and trap competitions was nothing new to her. She spent a lot of time there with her dad, so she knew what to expect and how to navigate the shooting range. And when she traveled to her first competition outside her home shooting range last summer—to Mašlovice—she managed to beat ten competitors there—all grown men.
Perhaps it was this very success that encouraged her to take shooting more seriously and gradually improve. Another important factor for her was meeting RSCM coach Robin Daňek, thanks to whom she now competes in the national team’s qualifying competitions.
Her shooting performance is certainly influenced by the presence of well-known names such as Jiří Lipták (2014 world champion) and David Kostelecký (Olympic champion), with whom she occasionally shoots in the same event. Perhaps that’s why, even though she’s only been fully dedicated to trap shooting since this spring—less than five months—she’s managed to advance to the finals at competitions and is gradually improving more and more.
We’re rooting for her, and Adéla proudly wears a shooting vest with our logo. Not only because we’re helping her, but also because her grandfather was a longtime employee of ours—a toolmaker—and her mother also worked in the company’s office.
As knife makers, we know full well that true mastery is forged through hours of work. And Adéla still has a lot of work ahead of her—dozens of hours at the shooting range and thousands of rounds to fire await her. We’ll support her every step of the way so she can keep improving and bring joy not only to us, but to everyone who considers Bohemian Switzerland and the Czech Republic their home.