Vlasta Děkanová

Beginning in 1928, Děkanová started touring and performing in exhibitions internationally in countries including Belgium, France, Netherlands, Poland, and Yugoslavia.

The rationale for her success was articulated in the official proceedings of the 10th Sokol Slet: "Sister Vlasta Děkanová thus became the first world champion in women’s gymnastics...She deserved to be the best due to her versatility and competitive reliability, gained by diligent and persistent preparation for all significant Sokol and international races in the last ten years.

However, her excellent and consistent placement at the standing world championships and other competitions met with a considerable reversal of fortune at these games.

[8]: 871 The reversal of fortune of Dekanova’s previous and further consistent champion status at these games headlines the much more extreme reversal of fortune experienced by both of the other then-current women’s world all-around medalists – Hungary’s Margit Kalocsai and Poland’s Janina Skirlińska who were, respectively, the 2nd and 3rd place finishers (out of a competitive field of 40 contestants) at the 1934 World Championships.

She was joined in this experience by no fewer than 10 other gymnasts from no fewer than 7 different countries, including 3 different Olympic all-around champions and 2 different World All-Around Champions: Dekanova’s fellow Czechoslovakians Jan Gajdoš and Emanuel Löffler, Finland’s Heikki Savolainen, Hungary’s Margit Kalocsai and István Pelle, Italy’s Romeo Neri, Poland’s Janina Skirlińska, Switzerland’s Georges Miez, and Yugoslavia’s Josip Primožič and Leon Štukelj.

She was a magistrate and was involved in copying and distributing material from illegal publications, such as "V boj" ("Into combat") by prominent journalist Irena Bernášková.

[4] She also served as a volunteer nurse during the Prague uprising of May 1945 and helped remove wounded soldiers from the front line of combat.

[4] Despite being in her mid-to-late 30s and having earned considerable laurels, Dekanova returned to competitive gymnastics in some capacity after World War II.

About this nebulous administrative maneuver, however, Provaznikova stated in that letter "Deliberately, much less with approval of the Women's Technical Committee COS, sister Vlasta Děkanová was named a substitute on the competing team.

I also added that to use Děkanová as an alternate would imperil the final outcome, since both substitutes would be involved in the optional team exercise with indian clubs, which was her weak point.

Nonetheless, since Nora Buddeusová was an excellent international judge and we needed her in that capacity, we moved Vlasta Děkanová up from assistant to head coach.

A photograph that would prove quite prophetic, this photograph, from a 1932 issue of Czechoslovakian journal "Věstník Sokolský", showcases 3 of their gymnasts , all of whom either had already become or, in the future, would become World All-Around Champions in the sport. Alois Hudec , right, had already accomplished this in 1931; Dekanova, center, would also in both 1934 and 1938; and Jan Gajdoš , left, in 1938. The caption reads "Our Best" (translated from Czech).
Děkanová at the 10th Sokol slet in 1938
Děkanová was competitor #11 in the gymnastics competition at the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympic Games, as is illustrated by this cropped photograph, from the Official Olympic Report, of her performing her compulsory exercise on the uneven bars.
L-R: Olympic Boxing Champion Július Torma , Czechoslovakian Prime Minister Antonín Zápotocký , Prague Mayor Václav Vacek , Děkanová, Olympic Running Champion Emil Zátopek , at the 1948 London Summer Olympic Games