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She is a world champion triathlete ranked sixth, but she also competes in duathlons and aquathlons. Additionally, she is a member of the Medical School’s basketball team and, on top of all that, a second-year medical student at the University of Pécs. Viktória Kiss’s parents are doctors, so she knows from them that if you decide to pursue this career, you must study a lot. It came as no surprise to her, but she had to get used to the fact that studying sometimes takes up all her time for days on end. She would like to become a sports medicine physician, but she would also like to continue competing in sports for as long as possible. We discussed her ambitions and motivations, as well as how to balance her studies with the demands of competitive sports.

Written by Nóra Novreczky

Living in Pécs, Viktória was drawn to the University of Pécs, and she also started triathlon in the county seat of Baranya, plus she was not attracted to the big city life offered by Budapest. She also considered other medical schools, but did not feel that there was a significant difference in the quality of education between the various institutions, so she began her studies in Pécs. She receives a lot of support from her parents, which is one of the reasons she can balance her studies and triathlon.

In addition to her studies and triathlon, she also participates in university sports, having been a member of the Medikus SE basketball team since 2024. According to her, a very good team and community have formed both on and off the court. She mostly plays point guard, and her job is to speed up the game. Thanks to her stamina, she gets tired much later than others. In the 2024/2025 academic year, she represented the Medical School in Pécs for the first time as an athlete in the Medical Cup, where the basketball team finished in second place. According to Viktória, this was a great result, considering that they had a new, freshly assembled team. She thought she would not be nervous before the games, as she is experienced in competitions, but even during the third game, her heart was pounding after she saw how many people were cheering for them.

How did your environment support you? Do your parents help you in any way?

I receive a lot of support and help from my parents. I live alone now, but I visit them often. Almost every time, they pack something delicious for me to eat, enough to feed an army. In addition, my parents are medical school graduates, and I have received many of their textbooks and notes to study from. Since my mother currently works at the UP Clinical Center Department of Medical Genetics and the Department of Paediatrics, and previously taught and did research at the Department of Biochemistry and Medical Chemistry, she can help me a lot this semester as well.

With such a family background, were you predestined for a career in medicine?

It never came up that I could not choose another profession, and that I had to come here. My parents did not have such expectations of me. For a while, I toyed with the idea of becoming a simultaneous interpreter because I speak both English and German fluently. However, a former English teacher convinced me that I could also pursue a career as an interpreter alongside my medical career.

How did sports come into your life, and why did you end up doing triathlons?

I played basketball until the middle of high school, then did CrossFit for a year. A few years ago, I wanted to work in the summer, but everywhere I looked, I found that they were only looking for students over 18. Lifeguarding was the only job I could do at 16. I liked it because I enjoyed first aid and knew it was related to medicine, so I signed up for the course.

They timed us during the assessment, and we were accepted into the training program based on our performance, so I practiced beforehand. As I reflect on it, I do not think my swimming time was very good, but I made it onto the better team, being the only girl among many swimmers and water polo players. By the end of the training, I had developed a deep love for swimming. I quit basketball for a year, but I missed the community. So, I looked for a club where I could play sports.

I have always loved running. I saw a post by a triathlon coach from Pécs on social media and contacted him to ask if I could join the triathletes. I completed the basic training with them in August, and then I started competing in May and June of the following year.

Do your teachers support you in doing sports? How do they feel about it?

Most of my teachers are unaware that I participate in triathlons. Last fall, while recovering from an illness, I did not go to an exam fully healed because, even though I could have postponed it, I knew that due to the world championships (2024 World Triathlon Age-Group Championships Torremolinos-Andalucia - ed.), I would already miss one exam, and I did not want to miss two. After the exam, my teacher told me that I should not have come in while I was sick. My classmates knew about my athletic side, and one of my teachers also knew that I was a triathlete. He wrote a note saying “Go Viki” while I was at the world championships, had the whole group sign it, and sent it to me. It was a sweet gesture. Now, when I sit in on lectures with slightly wet hair, we smile at each other because they know I have been swimming again.

What inspires you in your studies?

It is definitely motivating that I want to help people, and my goal is to keep up with my studies and graduate on time. I would like to become a sports medicine physician because I have been injured a lot myself, and I would like to give back the care and help I received from doctors. Nothing rules out the possibility that this idea may change in the future as I progress in my clinical studies. Although I consider them “plan B,” I am also interested in paramedics and emergency medicine.

How do you balance studying and sports? Do your training, class schedules, and personal life ever come into conflict with each other? How do you prepare for the exam periods?

I have a training plan that I use to organize my life, so it is essential for me to know which training sessions I have on which days. I go swimming early in the morning, which is relatively easy to fit into my day. During the current instruction period, I usually finish in the early afternoon, after which I have the rest of the day relatively free; that is when I attend other training sessions.

What I like about triathlon is that you can do it as a team, but it is also fine to do it alone. You do not need a lot of equipment or a specific space either. In my case, only the interval running training sessions are scheduled. During these sessions, we run on the track while the coaches measure our performance, how much and how fast we run. The coaches help us during these training sessions, but when we go running with our teammates, they do not accompany us. The same goes for cycling. Sometimes I cycle alone, but I can also arrange to go cycling with others.

I am still a bit of a novice when it comes to exam periods. During those times, I usually train once a day, whereas during the instruction period, I train twice a day on average, although sometimes more. When I focus primarily on my exams, I still try to maintain the level of fitness I have achieved so far. Sometimes, I would go to the university’s running track, and after I finished, I would come back to the faculty and continue my day. Cycling was the sport that had less priority for me at that time.

If you do so many things, when do you find time to rest? What counts as rest?

On Sundays, I also take a break and rest. During the preparation period, I sometimes go for a longer run, but I do not find it tiring. Essentially, I consider rest to be an active form of rest, but I also enjoy watching TV series or reading books. Cooking for myself is also a form of relaxation.

Which of your achievements are you most proud of?

I am most proud of my sixth-place at the World Championships, where I competed against 43 other triathletes in the 20-24 age group. They came from many different countries, so I felt a little uncertain at the beginning. I had never competed at such a high level before, so I was not sure what to expect. In addition, my result in this year’s national short-distance championship means a lot to me because I ran a better time than last year.

As far as I know, besides triathlon, you also do duathlon and aquathlon. Which one is your favorite?

I like triathlon the most, but duathlon is also close to my heart because it does not involve swimming. I feel a little weaker in that event than in the other two. Still, triathlon is my favorite because I can push my limits more and must put in more effort.

As triathletes, everyone gets a taste of the world of duathlons and aquathlons, and it is mostly triathletes who participate in these competitions. That is how I started. Looking at the entire season, duathlon competitions are excellent preparatory and closing competitions because you can cycle and run in cooler weather, whereas cycling in temperatures of 15-20 degrees after open-water swimming is not very pleasant.

What are your plans?

I would like to introduce daily learning into my life. If I devote just 1-2 hours to it, I will be much further ahead, and I will make the exam period easier for myself if I prepare in advance.

What message would you give to those who plan to study at the UP Medical School and are also competitive athletes, but worry that they will struggle to balance the two?

I think that as long as the training sessions do not interfere with their studies and they enjoy what they are doing, they should definitely not give it up. For me, university has only just begun, but with good time management, diligence, and humility, anyone can remain an athlete as well. It is important to set realistic goals for ourselves. Part of this lifestyle is that it is unlikely that someone will become an Olympic champion while attending medical school. If anyone thinks that it is impossible to play sports while studying 10-12 hours a day, I would like to refute that notion, because regular exercise, even during the exam period, is beneficial.

Photos:

Dávid Verébi

MEFS.hu/Rezi Bence