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Sporting Witness: The Czech Gymnast Who Defied The Soviet Union

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vera caslavska CROPPED.jpg

20/10/2018 GMT

The Czech Gymnast Who Defied The Soviet Union

BBC World Service - Sporting Witness, The Czech Gymnast Who Defied The Soviet Union

Vera Caslavska protested against the crushing of the Prague Spring at the 1968 Olympics.

How the great Vera Caslavska protested against the crushing of the Prague Spring at the 1968 Olympics.

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)

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