Name Vlasta Dekanova Died October 16, 1974 | Role Olympic athlete Country represented Czechoslovakia | |
Born September 5, 1909 ( 1909-09-05 ) Discipline Women\'s artistic gymnastics | ||
Vlasta Děkanová (September 5, 1909 – October 16, 1974), a Czechoslovak/Czech artistic gymnast, was the first ever World All-Around Champion in the sport of Women's Artistic Gymnastics.
At the 1936 Berlin Olympics, she helped her team to the silver medal. The next two succeeding Summer Olympics were cancelled due to World War II. But twelve years later at the 1948 London Olympics, the Czechoslovakian women's team brought home the gold medal through Dekanova's guidance, as she was the team coach.
The first ever World All-Around Champion in the sport of Women's Artistic Gymnastics in 1934, Dekanova successfully defended her victory in 1938. Conflicting information exists as to what individual events she won in 1938, when individual apparatus champions, among the women, were first recognized.
Before the introduction of the women's full program at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, medals were awarded to women's teams only, without distinguishing individual athletes. Therefore, Dekanova was the most decorated female artistic gymnast at the World and Olympic medal before that time.
Additionally, as Dekanova led her team to its first two World Championship victories and coached her team to Olympic victory in 1948, she can be credited as playing a very crucial role in establishing the legacy of her country in the sport of women's gymnastics. At the 15 World and Olympic competitions held, from 1934 to 1970, they won team medals at all but 2 of those competitions.