According to the website Gymnastics-History.com, various original source materials stated that the political situation, with what would become World War II on the near horizon, was grave in Czechoslovakia.

An article in the 28 May 1938 edition of The New York Times described the political situation in Czechoslovakia as a “powder barrel” about which Soviet spokespersons “continued to evince concern all week over the possibilities of a general war blazing up from the Czechoslovakia situation[1] Also, the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer stated, in an article in their 6 July 1938 edition, “In the midst of the gravest crisis experienced since the foundation of Czechoslovakia, Prague is celebrating the tenth Congress of the Slavonic Gymnastic Movement called the Sokol, or Falcon”.

Reportedly, cheating occurred at the first 1934 women's installment of these games[5] which, when undone, allowed the Czechoslovakian team and their foremost star Vlasta Děkanová to be the first-place finishers, as a team and individual, respectively.

These 1938 Worlds were hosted in Prague, Czechoslovakia, and this time all three spots on the all-around podium were occupied by individuals from the Czechoslovakian team.

Děkanová (a Bohemian) successfully defended her first-place finish from the previous worlds, Zdeňka Veřmiřovská (a Moravian) won silver, and Matylda Pálfyová (a Slovakian) won bronze.