Every 4 years, the very best of the very best of the very best in the wide world of sports compete for the gold. Nearly every nation is represented in this titanic tournament. Last time I tackled the Olympics, I focused on the 100M Dash. I ‘m stretching my horizons into gymnastics with…

Olympic Special Vol. 2: Vera Caslavska and Agnes Keleti

VERA CASLAVSKA: 1960 – Rome, 1964 – Tokyo, 1968 – Mexico City

Vera in 1967.

Mid-way through World War II on May 3, 1942, Prague’s Caslavska family introduced a baby girl. They named her Vera. From an early age, it was clear that Vera was a natural athlete. Initially, she started in dance, followed by figure skating. At 15 however, she switched to gymnastics. Like with the previous 2 sports, she dominated. Part of this was her and part was her instructor, Eva Bosakova (1952 – Helsinki, 1956 – Melbourne, and 1960 – Rome). Bosakova was already a multiple medal holder in both the Olympics and World Championships.

After a year or so of training Vera competed alongside Bosakova in 1959 at the European Championship. She won her first (of many) gold medals in the balance beams but slipped up on the uneven bars leaving her in 8^th. The team won the silver medal. This success continued into the Olympics in Rome where she won the silver in the team category again. She continued to compete and exponentially became the top gymnast of her era. In the World and European Championships and the Olympics, she won numerous gold and silver medals. Things changed around the 1968 Olympics however.

January 5, 1968, Antonin Novotny was officially replaced by Alexander Dubcek as 1^st Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. Dubcek’s goal was to create, “Communism with a Human Face.” In turn, he introduced more Democratic leaning policies and expanding people’s freedoms like speech. The Soviets were not pleased so they invaded Czechoslovakia with 600,000 soldiers and help from other Warsaw Pact nations. Vera was in support of the new reforms and signed the protest manifesto, “Two Thousand Words,” by Ludvik Vaculik. All this happened a few months before the Mexico City Olympics that fall (seriously, the 1968 summer games were held in October that year).

Vera was in trouble so her fled to the mountains. Similarly to Rocky in Rocky IV, she trained using the natural world, but out of necessity not because of manliness. After 3 weeks, she got word that the Czech allowed her to participate in the Mexico City games again. It was during these games that she became the first and only Olympian to ever win a medal in every gymnastics event. In addition to this, she refused to observe the rising of the Czech and Soviet flags when she tied for the gold in the Floor Exercise with Larisa Petrik. Many took notice, including the Soviets.

Around this time, she married Josef Odlozil, a fellow Czech Olympian. Back home in Prague, things changed. The government was suspicious of Caslavska and barred her from federal jobs for her protests and politics.

She divorced Josef in 1987. 3 years later the Communists lost power and she finally publicly regarded as a hero of the people. Also wasn’t barred from federal jobs. They had several children. One of them, Martin, stabbed his father in a dance club in 1993. Josef died. Martin was sent to prison. Vera focused on keeping her family together after this tragic event. She still resides in Prague today and lives a private life.

AGNES KELTEI: 1948 – London, 1952 – Helsinki, 1956 – Melbourne

Hungry’s Agnes Keleti came from humble beginnings, she was born to a Jewish family on January 9, 1921. Like other future Olympians she was attracted to sports early on. A natural gymnast, she excelled at the VAC Jewish Sports Club quickly. Her father, Ferencs, wanted both his daughters involved in sports. He was a lifelong athlete. Her mother complimented their father’s push for athletics with academics. Thanks to her, Agnes was a great student, cellist, and singer.

At 16, she won her first national championship. By the end of her professional career, there were 9 more national championships. She was on her way to the Olympics but World War II broke out. Hunngry was left out of it for awhile until Germany invaded. Agnes managed to get papers under the guise of a Christian woman named Piroshka. She worked for a Nazi-sympathizing family as a maid for the rest of the war. Her father was taken to Auschwitz. Her mother and sister luckily escaped thanks to the Swedish diplomat, Raoul Wallenberg (he was responsible for saving thousands of Hungarian Jews). By the end of the war the only family left was her mother and sister.

Agnes doing a split at 91.

Reunited with her family, Agnes resumed where her career left off. She won more national titles over the next few years and nearly made it to the London Olympic. 2 days before they began, she injured herself but recovered in time to compete in European and World Championships. In the Helsinki games, she became the oldest female gymnast to win an Olympian medal at 31. She won 4 medals in total. That record was broken again at the Melbourne games with 6 more medals. At 35, she set the record (again) for oldest female gymnast to win an Olympic medal.

The Soviet Union invaded Hungry during the Melbourne games. Instead of return home, she and the other Hungarians remained down under. She received political asylum to reside in Israel, where she still lives. In 1959, she married Robert Biro, a fellow Hungarian Jew that escaped the Soviets. They have 2 sons, Rafael and Daniel. In Israel, she become a corner stone in the establishment of Israeli Gymnastics. She ended up teaching at Tel Aviv University for years.

Agnes is the second most accomplished Jewish Olympic athlete with 10 medals, right behind Mark Spitz’ 11.

Not only did these women set world records, they managed to thwart both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union from destroying them mentally and physically. They are extraordinary women that need to be remembered and celebrated.

Sources

http://www.ighof.com/honorees/1998_Vera_Caslavska.php

https://www.olympic.org/vera-caslavska

http://brooklynquarterly.org/personal-protest-at-the-olympics/

http://thebiography.us/en/caslavska-vera

http://www.drmirkin.com/histories-and-mysteries/vera-caslavska-marriage-of-two-great-olympic-athletes.html

http://www.radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/czechoslovak-sports-legend-vera-caslavska-celebrates-60th-birthday

http://web.archive.org/web/20040508164234/http://www.intlgymnast.com/events/2004/europeans/champions/caslavska.html

http://articles.latimes.com/1990-04-05/sports/sp-900_1_prague-spring

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/prague-spring-begins-in-czechoslovakia

http://www.dhr.history.vt.edu/modules/eu/mod05_1968/evidence_detail_13.html 2,000 Words

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dykBBhaoczg

http://www.lib.umich.edu/soviet-invasion-czechoslovakia/pg1.html

http://www.gymn.ca/gymnasticgreats/wag/keleti.htm

http://esra-magazine.com/blog/post/agnes-keleti

http://www.jewishpress.com/sections/jewess-press/impact-women-history/agnes-keleti-the-foundation-stone-of-gymnastics-in-israel/2012/07/22/

http://www.ighof.com/honorees/2002_Agnes_Keleti.php

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/keleti-agnes

http://www.jewishsports.net/BioPages/AgnesKeleti(Klein).htm

HASEKURA TSUNENAGA: The Pope’s Favorite Samurai

The Samurai, legendary warriors that actually did a lot more than fight with katanas. They were more or less government employees that were highly trained in cultural customs as well as warfare. One such job was diplomat.

Statue of Tsunenaga

By the 1500s, The Japanese had some interaction with Europeans but it was minimal, some trade and whatnot. Hasekura Tsunenaga was the first official ambassador to Europe. Tsunenaga embarked on a journey to Europe and North America in 1613.

Tsunenaga was born in 1571. Aside from that not much is actually known about his life. He came from a family of samurai. Like his father, Hasekura Tsunenari, he was trained as a samurai. Eventually, Tsunenaga became a mid-level samurai and retainer under Date Masamune in the Sendai domain. Things both personally and professionally shook up Tsunenaga’s life in 1612.

His father, Tsunenari was indicted for corruption and had his fief seized by Masamune. Not only that but Tsunenaga was supposed to be executed. However, this didn’t happen. Masamune had a plan. He wanted to let Christian missionaries in his domain. The Emperor and other Shoguns were decidedly against having any Western influence. They were trying to outlaw Christians from entering Japan. So, Masamune went rogue and defied them. He wanted to send an ambassador to meet with King Felipe III of Spain and Pope Paul V to organize a massive influx of Christian missionaries to convert Sendai (and possibly Japan), and to establish trade with Europe via the Spanish.

Tsunenaga was seen as a great pick for this mission. He was a veteran of the Korean invasion in 1597 under Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a

Tsunenaga Post Baptism

nd had years of experience sailing. Also, he didn’t want to die. Regardless of the outcome, the Hasekura estate would be restored and Tsunenaga would live.

On September 15, 1613 Tsunenaga left aboard the San Juan Bautista or as the Japanese called it the Date Maru, a Spanish Galleon built in Japan. It took 800 shipwrights, 700 smiths, 3000 carpenters, and 45 days to complete. The crew was 180, a mix of Spanish, Portuguese, and mostly Japanese, in total.

First stop, New Spain aka Mexico. They arrived in 1614. Meanwhile in Japan, the shoguns and Emperor were cracking down on Jesuits. They’d been hanging around since 1549. The Japanese leaders had had enough and outlawed any Christian missionaries from entering Japan. Effectively, cutting off their trade relationships with the Portuguese and Dutch. The Jesuits present were forced to leave. This was the start of cutting ties with the West.

The Date Maru landed in Acapulco, New Spain. Shortly after they met with the local Spanish viceroy. It went well though there isn’t much information on what exactly was discussed. They stayed for a bit. The Date Maru left with a fleet of Spanish escorts but a tropical storm forced them to stay hunker down in Cuba until it passed.

On October 5, 1614, the fleet reached Sanlucar de Barra, Spain. Evidently, they loved Spain and stayed there for 8 months. The meeting with King Felipe III went swimmingly. To cement the deal to trade goods with Spain, Tsunenaga was baptized a Catholic by the Archbishop of Toledo. His godfather was the Duke of Lerna. Tsunenaga’s Christian name was Don Filippo Francisco Hasekura-Rokuemon. King Felipe and Tsunenaga bro-ed out for a while then he had to leave to meet the Pope. Before reaching Rome, they stopped in France and Italy shortly. Apparently, it wasn’t as fun Spain.

After taking in the Mediterranean coast, they finally met the pope. Just like with Felipe III, Pope Paul V loved him and agreed to send missionaries to Japan. The Pope loved him so much that Tsunenaga is made an honorary Roman and nobleman. Thus making him, the pope’s and the Vatican’s favorite samurai.

They returned to Spain ASAP. However, Felipe III had bad news. He found out that the emperor and shoguns outlawed Christian missionaries from entering Japan. The deal was off but they stayed in Spain for as long as they wanted. They hung out in Spain for a bit and eventually left.

The Date Maru left in July 1616. Once it landed in New Spain, a few samurai ran away. They didn’t stay quite as long before but still took their time to get back. Next stop, the Philippines for 2 more years. Then they finally return to Sendai with the news in 1620. So, this mission was a giant waste of time and money but Tsunenaga had a great 7-year vacation.

Tsunenaga died in 1622 from illness. His grave is unknown and 3 different graves are allegedly his.

Most of his life unknown except for this brief 7 years, where a local governor sent him on a mission to undermine the national government’s official policies. It failed completely but if you got a free ticket to Europe on “official” business wouldn’t you take your time too. This was almost completely forgotten by for 250 years, until the Japanese opened up their borders again to Westerners.

Sources

http://civitavecchia.co.uk/hasekura.html

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2014/03/12/arts/hasekura-tsunenagas-portrait-has-a-tale-to-tell/#.Vqd_kiorLIU

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Hasekura_Tsunenaga

http://www.urasenke.or.jp/texte/world/e_mexico03/e_mexico03.html

http://www.idtg.org/archive/1164-hasekura-tsunenaga/

http://www.artsales.com/ARTistory/Xavier/Hasekura.html

http://www.city.sendai.jp/kyouiku/museum/syuuzou/hasekura/index.html