Věra Čáslavská

Věra Čáslavská (3 May 1942 – 30 August 2016) was a Czechoslovakian artistic gymnast and Czech sportswoman. She was very attractive, cheerful and popular with the general public. Věra Čáslavská won 22 international titles between 1959 and 1968, including seven Olympic gold medals, four World titles and eleven European championship. Čáslavská and Soviet Larisa Latynina, they are only two female gymnasts, who win the all-around gold medal at two consecutive Olympics. In years 1964 - 1968 she wasn’t never lose out in big competition in multicontest.

Věra Čáslavská in 1967

Life

She was born in Prague. She did ballet and figure skating when she was small. In 2015 she met Eva Bosáková and with her they started to do gymnastics.

Shortly after the 1968 Olympics, Čáslavská was married with runner Josef Odložil. He was a silver medalist at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. They had ceremony at the Mexico City Cathedral.

In 1969 was born her daughter Radka and in 1974 son Martin. The couple divorced in 1987.

She became a president Václav Havel’s counselor for social issues and sport in January 1990 and since 1991 she worked as his assistant.

In next ten years she was alone and she don’t associate with anyone.  Čáslavská lived in a nursing home. She was treated with depression in mental home in Bohnice and added addiction on pharmaceuticals. Fortunately in 2007 she came back with great enthusiasm and she began helping Czech athletes. But in summer 2015 she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which next year has worsened. In her final days she was taken to a hospital in Prague on 30 August, where she died at the age of 74. Her funeral took place in the narrow family circle on 8 September in 2016 and her remains were cremated at the crematorium Šumperk.

Filmography

Věra 68 - it’s a feature movie, overhead Olga Sommerová.

Interest

After Věra Čáslavská is named asteroid (26986) Čáslavská (improvised name 1997 VC5).