Background
Born in Prague, he was the son of former Olympic weightlifting champion Jaroslav Skobla.
Born in Prague, he was the son of former Olympic weightlifting champion Jaroslav Skobla.
His first success was a gold medal at the 1954 European Athletics Championships – a feat that no other Czechoslovakian has been able to replicate since. He was the bronze medallist at the event at the 1958 European Athletics Championships and placed sixth in 1962. He competed for Czechoslovakia at the Olympics on three occasions: 1952, 1956 and 1960.
His final international medal, a bronze, came at the 1966 European Indoor Games.
Skobla died of kidney cancer in Prague. The autopsy results were not released, but it was widely believed his death may have been associated with steroid use.