Hana Mašková

Hana Mašková (IPA2|ˈɦana ˈmaʃkova:) (September 26, 1949 – March 31, 1972) was a Czech figure skater who competed for Czechoslovakia.

Biography

As a child, Hana spent her days on the ice at the Štvanice Stadium. Reputable coach Karel Glogar noticed the talent in this little girl. Glogar also had been instrumental in the beginning of the career of Ája Vrzáňová, two-time World champion. Hana's next coach was Jaroslav Sadílek and, finally, in 1963, Míla Nováková became her coach.

Amateur career

Hana's career started in the European Figure Skating Championships in Budapest in 1963. The next year, she competed in the World Figure Skating Championships in Dortmund. As a fifteen year old, she represented Czechoslovakia at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck and placed 15th.

She achieved success thanks to hard work. She got up at four o'clock in the morning. She had to be excellent in school, learn to play the piano, study German language, and train every day. This hard regimen made her successful.

In 1967, Hana won the silver medal at the European Championships in Ljubljana, Yugoslavia, finishing second to Gabriele Seyfert from GDR. One year later, Hana won the gold medal in Västerås in Sweden. In Grenoble, where the 1968 Winter Olympics took place, she was expected to medal. Her greatest rivals were Peggy Fleming from USA, who had already won two of her three world championships, and Gabriele Seyfert. Hana won the bronze medal. She is the only Czech woman who has won an Olympic medal in figure skating.

Ája Vrzáňová invited her to join a professional revue, but Hana stayed one more year. As a result, she won the silver medal at European Championships in 1969 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, West Germany. Gabriele Seyfert won the gold medal.

Professional career

In 1969 she left amateur figure skating and she skated in the professional revue Holiday on Ice.

Death

On March 31, 1972 Hana was in a car crash near the French town Vouvray and was killed immediately. Her tomb is at the Vyšehrad cemetery in Prague, decorated by a winged female torso made by Jan Štursa.

Hana was often called the "jumping phenomenon", but she was also a very elegant and artistic skater.

Competitive highlights

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