While Olga Fikotová Connolly’s personal archive was transported to the Czech Republic by Jaroslav Olša, Jr., former Consul General in Los Angeles in cooperation with Jan Lomíček, head of the National Museum’s sports collection, already during the last August, the gold medal was personally brought to Prague by two of the Olympic champion’s daughters—Merja Connolly and Nina Connolly. They then officially presented it to Michal Lukeš, Director General of the National Museum in the dome of the National Museum in the heart of Prague. The ceremonial handover was attended by a number of guests, including Libor Varhaník, President of the Czech Athletics Federation and Vice President of the Czech Olympic Committee; Marie Chatardová, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jiří Krátký, Special Envoy of the Minister for Compatriot Affairs, and Jaroslav Olša, Jr., who initiated the project of the donation, Deputy Ministers of Culture Kateřina Pešatová and Adam Gody Kocián; US Ambassador Nicholas Merrick, Zdeněk Škoda, Olympic Historian, and Marta Doležalová, local historian of the village of Libiš, where Olga Fikotová spent her childhood and began her athletic career.

The story of Olga Fikotová Connolly (1932–2024) transcended the Iron Curtain when, in 1956, she won the discus throw at the Olympic Games in Melbourne while competing for Czechoslovakia. It was there that she met American hammer thrower Harold Connolly, also an Olympic champion. Their relationship became a symbol of hope during the Cold War, as they managed to obtain permission to marry despite the political conditions of the time, and she subsequently left Czechoslovakia legally. Although Olga Fikotová Connolly hoped to continue representing her homeland, the Czechoslovak Olympic Committee did not allow her to compete at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, which she took very hard. Contrary to rumors, she never refused to represent her native country. She ultimately decided to compete for the United States and participated in the Olympic Games in 1960, 1964, 1968, and 1972. At her final Olympics in Munich, she was also selected as the flag bearer for the US team. Nevertheless, as her daughter Nina Connolly emphasized, she remained Czech at heart and always said that she had won her Olympic gold medal for her fellow citizens. That is also why—as the second of the sisters, Merja Connolly, pointed out—their mother would be happy that the medal and her archive have returned to her native country after seven decades.

Items from Olga Fikotová Connolly’s estate will expand the collections of the Department of the History of Physical Education and Sport at the National Museum. Her Olympic gold medal has never been exhibited; starting in June of this year, it will become part of the permanent exhibition “History of the 20th Century“ in the National Museum.