Olga Fikotová (, 13 November 1932 – 12 April 2024) was 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 Repu ...

, and later American, discus thrower. She is best known for winning gold at the

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

, 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 nail (fastener), nails into wood, to sh ...

gold medalist Hal Connolly.

Biography

A natural athlete, she represented Czechoslovakia in

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and

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor 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 thr ...

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

Charles University in Prague Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the oldest universities in the world in continuous operation, the oldest university north of the ...

when she competed for Czechoslovakia in the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...

held in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

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in the discus. The 24-year-old became Czechoslovakia's only gold medalist at the 1956 Olympics when she won with a throw of 53.69 m, beating

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

pair Irina Beglyakova (52.54 m) and Nina Ponomaryova (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, who won the

hammer throw The hammer throw (HT for short) is one of the four throwing events in regular outdoor track-and-field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and Javelin throw, javelin. The hammer used in this sport is not like any of the tools a ...

. 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 in Czechoslovakia. He served as the Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia from 1948 to 1953, and then as President of Czechoslovakia from 1 ...

, 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 ...

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

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'', 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., Fikotová wanted to continue representing Czechoslovakia, but the Czechoslovak Olympic Committee refused to allow her to do. The committee spread the word that she had refused to represent Czechoslovakia, and she was ostracized by several of her former compatriots for years before the truth became known. Thereafter, as Olga Connolly, she represented the United States at every summer Olympics from 1960 until 1972, placing 7th in 1960 and 6th in 1968. She carried the flag for the United States at the 1972 Summer Olympics. In 1968, Fikotová published a book about her romance with Connolly, ''The Rings of Destiny''. They 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. Fikotová later became a certified exercise therapist specializing in holistic fitness studies and training. She instructed a wellness program at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

at Irvine until 2017, then relocated to Nevada where she coached fitness and wellness at the EoS Fitness Club in Las Vegas. Fikotová died from cancer in

Costa Mesa, California Costa Mesa (; Spanish language, Spanish for "coastal tableland") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to an urban area including ...

on 12 April 2024, at the age of 91.

References

External links

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

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections,

Charles E. Young Research Library The Charles E. Young Research Library is one of the largest libraries on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. It initially opened in 1964, and a second phase of construction was completed ...

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fikotova, Olga 1932 births 2024 deaths Sportspeople from Most (city) Athletes from the Ústí nad Labem Region 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