Everyone cheered for us in Mexico. I still get goosebumps when I think of it.
Elena Moskalová, née Poláková, was born on April 20, 1948. Her family was living in Jablonec nad Nisou. In the 1950s, her father, a sign painter by profession, was persecuted by the communist police, who was trying to destroy his business and punish him for leaving the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. Her uncle Oldřich Polák was sentenced to one year in Mírov prison for badmouthing the Party in the pub. Elena started playing volleyball as a child with Jiskra and Bižuterie Jablonec teams. She moved up to the first league at the age of fifteen and even played for junior representation. She managed to combine her top sportsmanship with studies at the Jablonec grammar school. In 1967, her team won a bronze medal at the European Championship, and at the Olympics in Mexico in 1968, they came sixth. She left Mexico cherishing the incredible sense of solidarity demonstrated by the world’s sports community in support of the recently occupied Czechoslovakia. At the European Championship in 1971, her team won silver medals and at the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972, they came seventh. At the time, she witnessed the Palestinian terrorist attack on the Israeli sports delegation. Between 1968-1974, she was a Tatra Střešovice team member. With them, she won the title five times and played the finals of Women’s European Volleyball Cup twice. Střešovice was defeated by the Soviet team then. Between 1974-1977, she played the first league on the Lokomotiva Liberec team. Later she returned to Jablonec, and after her professional retirement, became a coach. With her husband Jiří Moskal, a racing driver and a Dakar Ralley participant, she raised two children, daughter Elena and son Jiří. In the year 2000, she was brought into the Czech Volleyball Union’s Hall of Fame. In 2021, she was living in Jablonec nad Nisou.