Matej started skiing as soon as he could walk and has been skiing ever since. He started doing biathlon at age 12 after seeing the successes his older brother had at the Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer. Vasek has continued to inspire him by being selected as the alternate for the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. Matej is a dual citizen with both of his parents coming from the Czech Republic. His parents both grew up doing biathlon and his mother competed in the 1992 Olympics for Czechoslovakia. Matej takes advantage of his dual citizenship and often spends long periods of time training and competing in the Czech Republic to gain more experiences so he can grow and improve in the sport of biathlon.

 

Outside of biathlon and skiing Matej enjoys running, swimming, and hanging out with friends.