Matylda Vilma Pálfyová (11 March 1912 – 23 September 1944) was a Slovak

gymnast Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...

who competed in the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

, helping her team to a silver medal. She was the first female Slovak Olympic medalist and world champion.Prvá: Matylda Pálfyová
/ref> She also competed at the

1938 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 11th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1938. According to the website Gymnastics-History.com, various original source materials stated that the political situation, with what would become World W ...

, where she won two gold medals in team, vault and the bronze medal in the all-around competitions.

Biography

Personal life

She was born in Hernádszentistván,

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Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

(now Kostoľany nad Hornádom,

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

). Her first job was as a correspondent in the construction company of Ing. Beřich Minařa, who was a member of Sokol and fully supported Matylda. Then Pálfyová worked in Košice as a correspondent from the age of 18, between 1934 and 1937 at Východoslovenské elektrárne, úč. spol. At the administrative building of Východoslovenská energetika, a.s. in Košice today a memorial plaque commemorates her. In 1937, she moved to

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

, where she worked at Západoslovenské elektrárne, úč. spol. She was also a member of the Academic Singing Association. Its conductor was the music composer

Ján Cikker Ján Cikker (29 July 1911 – 21 December 1989) was a Slovak composer, a leading exponent of modern Slovak classical music. He was awarded the title ''National Artist'' in Slovakia, the Herder Prize (1966) and thIMC-UNESCO International Music Pr ...

, to whom Pálfyová even became engaged. Finally, in 1942, she married offtheir JUDr. Ondrej Marek, their marriage lasted only two years until the gymnast's death. She died on 23 September 1944 in

Brestovany Brestovany () is a municipality in the Trnava District of the Trnava region of Slovakia, with a population of about 2,000 inhabitants. The name of the village is likely derived from the Slovak word ''brest'', meaning elm, a tree which used to be c ...

while riding her favorite mare, which was attacked by a wild stallion while galloping. Matylda fell to the ground, but remained hanging in the stirrups and the frightened mare dragged her around. When the people freed her, she was already dead. She died as a result of a fracture of the lower skull bone at the age of only 32. After her death, her husband JUDr. Marek went to the warfront at the beginning of 1945 and all trace of him was lost. Their marriage was childless due to its brevity. She is buried at the new cemetery in

Trnava Trnava (, , ; , also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, to the northeast of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of the Trnava Region and the Trnava District. It is the seat o ...

Gymnastics career

When she studied at the Gymnasium, she became a member of the Sokol Košice at the age of twelve. She started doing gymnastics there at the age of 15. She finished high school and took part in the first competition in Prague in 1932 (tools, simple training, athletics), where she won 3rd place overall. In addition to her job, she worked hard on herself, which earned her participation in the search competition in sports gymnastics, which took place on 16 July 1935 in Prague. Matylda, who placed 26th out of 33 competitors, did not initially make it to the team of the ČOS. However, Kobelářová dropped out, as she had to decline the nomination for official reasons, and she was the one who got the chance. She accepted her chance in the ČOS team as an opportunity of a lifetime and trained hard for two years.

Major competitions

As part of the Sokol (ČOS) team, she went to various demonstration exercises to prepare for the Olympic Games. After 1935, her sports activities started successfully, when she was one of Czechoslovakia's best female gymnasts. She scored 7.3 and took fourth place in the so-called elimination (i.e. nomination) Sokol competitions on 18 May 1936 and thereby secured participation in the

1936 Summer Olympic Games The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. At the

1936 Olympic Games 1936 Olympics may refer to: *The 1936 Winter Olympics, which were held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany *The 1936 Summer Olympics, which were held in Berlin, Germany {{Short pages monitor