Alena Vrzáňová
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Vrzáňová in 2009
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Alena Vrzáňová | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alternative names | Ája Zanová | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented |
 Czechoslovakia
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| Born |
16 May 1931 Prague, Czechoslovakia |
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| Died | 30 July 2015 (aged 84) Manhattan, New York City, United States |
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| Former coach | Arnold Gerschwiler | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Skating club | VŠ Praha | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Alena "Ája" Vrzáňová (Czech pronunciation: [ˈalɛna ˈaːja ˈvr̩zaːɲovaː], also Zanová, married name: Steindler; 16 May 1931 – 30 July 2015) was a Czech figure skater who represented Czechoslovakia in competition. Vrzáňová is the 1949 & 1950 World champion and 1950 European champion.
Vrzáňová was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1931. In addition to figure skating, she also played piano and attended ballet school.
After spending the winter of 1949 at home in Czechoslovakia, her father advised her not to come back from the upcoming World Championships and she agreed. She defected from Czechoslovakia during the 1950 World Championships in London and was eventually offered political asylum. Her mother followed her in March under dramatic circumstances – her plane was hijacked. Her father, a professional cello player, visited them several times, but decided not to leave his country permanently. He was held as a political prisoner for 13 years and forced to work in a coal mine. His daughter did not return to Prague until 1990, after the Velvet Revolution.
In 1969, Vrzáňová married Czech-born innkeeper Pavel Steindler; they adopted two children. They ran the Duck Joint restaurant in New York City, and later the Czech Pavilion. She died on 30 July 2015 at the age of 84 while living in New York City.
Vrzáňová started sports at the age of three when her parents bought her skis. They spent each winter in the Krkonoše mountains. After this tradition was interrupted during World War II, Vrzáňová started figure skating. The training conditions were difficult, as she had to skate in early winter mornings. Her training sessions were held in darkness because of the dim-out regulations. She skated at the open Štvanice Stadium before the sessions for hockey players, or at the CLTK club tennis courts, which were flooded with water and frozen.
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Wikipedia