Sporting Witness
Sporting Witness
The Czech Gymnast Who Defied The Soviet Union
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October 20, 2018
9 minutes
Available for over a year
At the Mexico City Olympics in 1968, the great Czechoslovak gymnast Vera Caslavska staged a protest that made almost as many headlines at the time as the now much better-known "Black Power Salute". To make a stand against Moscow's crushing of the Prague Spring, Caslavska turned her head away on the podium as the Soviet anthem was played. The gymnast paid a heavy price - spending the rest of her life in menial jobs and suffering from depression. Tom Reynolds talks to Caslavska's friend, British competitor Mary Prestidge.
PHOTO: Vera Caslavska with her Olympic medals (Getty Images)