Background
Her father was also a gymnast for the Czechoslovakian national team at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Her father was also a gymnast for the Czechoslovakian national team at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
She and Věra Čáslavská led the Czechoslovakian women"s gymnastics team to three successive World/Olympic silver medals in a row (1958 Worlds, 1960 Olympics, 1962 Worlds), establishing their nation as the foremost challengers to the dominant Soviet women"s team during that era.
On balance beam, where she is credited for being the first woman gymnast to compete a cartwheel (at the 1956 Olympics), she was World (1962) and Olympic (1960) champion, and she was good enough on all four events combined to become All-Around silver medalist at two consecutive World Championships (1958, 1962).
After her competitive career was over, she became a member of the Czechoslovak Song and Dance Ensemble and later became a coach in her home country.
