Remembering Věra Čáslavská

The Embassy of the Czech Republic welcomed in the evening of October 6 a packed house to its documentary screening of director Olga Sommerová's Věra 68, presented in tribute to the most accomplished Czech Olympic athlete, Věra Čáslavská, who recently died in August at the age of 74. The film recollected Věra’s Olympic success in Tokyo in 1964 with three gold medals and in Mexico City in 1968 with four gold medals as well as her protest against the 1968 Soviet bloc invasion of Czechoslovakia from the medal podium of those Mexico games. Věra turned her head down and away from the Soviet flag when the anthem was played at two of her medal ceremonies. For this act along with her signature on the 2000 Words (a manifesto calling for reforms), she was reduced to cleaning houses upon her return from the games. Still, that year, she was voted the world's second most popular woman, right after Jackie Kennedy. The audience at the Embassy was absolutely enthralled by Věra’s life story as almost 50 years later it is not widely known in the West.  The program was a part of the Mutual Inspirations Festival 2016 – Martina Navrátilová, honoring women athletes who lived under the Czechoslovak totalitarian regime while striving to reach the top in their respective sport.