Olga Fikotová (, born 13 November 1932) is a

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) **Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...

and later

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

discus thrower. She is best known for winning gold at the

1956 Melbourne Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

and for her romance across Cold War barriers with American

hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as w ...

gold medalist Hal Connolly.

Biography

A natural athlete, she represented Czechoslovakia in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

before switching to discus throw in 1954. Two years later, she was still a medical student at the

Charles University in Prague Charles University ( cs, Univerzita Karlova, UK; la, Universitas Carolina; german: Karls-Universität), also known as Charles University in Prague or historically as the University of Prague ( la, Universitas Pragensis, links=no), is the oldest an ...

when she competed for Czechoslovakia in the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

held in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in the Discus. The 24-year-old became Czechoslovakia's only gold medalist at the Olympics when she won the event with a throw of 53.69 m ahead of

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

pair Irina Beglyakova (52.54 m) and

Nina Ponomaryova Nina Apollonovna Ponomaryova (née ''Romashkova''; russian: Нина Аполлоновна Пономарёва (Ромашкова); 27 April 1929 – 19 August 2016) was a Russian discus thrower and the first Soviet Olympic champion. Career ...

(52.02 m). Half a century later, she commented on her rapid progress: During the games she fell in love with the American athlete

Harold Connolly Harold Joseph Connolly (8 September 1901 – 17 May 1980) was a Canadian journalist, newspaper editor, and politician who served as the 15th premier of Nova Scotia in 1954. Connolly was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, the son of Richard Joseph ...

who won the

hammer throw The hammer throw is one of the four throwing events in regular track and field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and javelin. The "hammer" used in this sport is not like any of the tools also called by that name. It consis ...

. The romance was well received by the Western media and public but not as popular with the Czechoslovak team minders. Several months later, Connolly visited her home in Prague where they planned to get married. Fikotová was surprisingly given a permit to marry a foreigner, possibly due to the positive involvement of Czechoslovak president

Antonín Zápotocký Antonín Zápotocký (19 December 1884 – 13 November 1957) was a Czech communist politician and statesman who served as the prime minister of Czechoslovakia from 1948 to 1953 and the president of Czechoslovakia from 1953 to 1957. Biography He ...

, who met the couple a few days before the wedding. Their witnesses for the wedding were the legendary Czech couple and Olympic athletics gold medalists

Emil Zátopek Emil Zátopek (; 19 September 1922 – 21 November 2000) was a Czech long-distance runner best known for winning three gold medals at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He won gold in the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres runs, but his final me ...

and

Dana Zátopková Dana Zátopková (; née Ingrová , 19 September 1922 – 13 March 2020) was a Czech javelin thrower. She won the gold medal for javelin at the 1952 Summer Olympics (only an hour after her husband, Emil Zátopek, won the 5,000 m), and the silver ...

. They had planned for a tiny mid-week wedding, but news of it somehow got out and it was attended by thousands of people. The couple moved to the United States after the wedding. Olga and Harold both appeared on the June 10, 1958 episode the

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...

'' To Tell the Truth'', in which each one was shown alongside two impostors and a panel attempted to guess who the real one was. After moving to the U.S., Olga wanted to continue representing Czechoslovakia, but the Czechoslovak Olympic Committee refused to allow her to do so and then spread the word that she had refused to represent Czechoslovakia any more. She was ostracized by several of her former compatriots for years before the truth became known. Thereafter, as Olga Connolly, she took part in every Olympics till 1972 competing for the United States, placing 7th in 1960 and 6th in 1968. She carried the flag for the United States at the 1972 Summer Olympics. In 1968, Olga published a book about her romance with Harold Connolly, The Rings of Destiny. Olga and Harold remained married for 17 years before getting divorced in 1975. One of their sons became a national-caliber javelin thrower and decathlete, and one of their daughters played on the U.S. national volleyball team. For the past decade Olga specialized in holistic fitness studies and training. As a Certified Exercise Therapist she instructed wellness program at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

at Irvine until 2017 when she relocated to Nevada where presently she coaches fitness/wellness at EoS Fitness Club in Las Vegas.

References

External links

* *Image o
Olga Connolly-Fikotová at the UCLA Elementary School
in the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library,

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fikotova, Olga 1932 births Living people Athletes from Prague Czech female discus throwers American female discus throwers Czechoslovak female discus throwers Olympic athletes for Czechoslovakia Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Olympic gold medalists for Czechoslovakia Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Naturalized citizens of the United States Charles University alumni 20th-century American sportswomen