“The problem was that our Slovak coaches and officials did not fight for us, for players. Those Czech players had a lot of support in their coaches, the coaches favoured them strongly, even though the players did not always achieve the results they could have. But we, the Slovaks, had to be much better to be recognized and accepted. The problem was that no one stood behind us. Behind me stood only my father, but it was taken as granted that father wanted only the best for the child. My father was a fair man in respect of that, he just wanted me to be respected for what I had achieved regarding the game. So that is how it was in the representation. I was considered an “unwelcome guest”.”
“I had to promise them I would follow everything what would happen on the borders, and if there was something suspicious, I would inform them. If I had not given them my word, they would not let me go and they would not allow me to go anywhere. I was scared and I was not allowed to tell anybody. It had to be totally secret. Of course, I told everybody about it but I never get in touch with the Security again. They used to call to my work, to the head of department, because I did not have a telephone at home. The personal assistant, a friend of mine, she used to answer the phone. She knew when they called, she knew their voices. They had never introduced themselves. They called and wanted to speak with me, and she made excuses. I saw their car near my work, they monitored me but I would not go to them again for sure.”
“For sure, we were meeting each other (abroad) and of course, it was not allowed. That is how it was, we were monitored and there were things that had been out of “our” communist code, and the rules should have been followed and respected. We did not always do so. I was meeting one of my former teammates from junior representation, she lived in Germany. I was meeting other teammate, Marta Lužová, who got a chance to be a part of German representation two years after she had emigrated. When she was a part of the Czechoslovak representation, I was very young so we did not get to know each other so well, but we understood each other and I was not scared to admit it. I did not hide, I acted straightforwardly, sometimes I got into troubles because of it but I ignored it.”
Alica Chladeková-Grofová was born on 2 April 1952 in Vajnory (today-a city part of Bratislava). She had been playing table tennis with her brother since her childhood. Firstly, she considered table tennis a hobby. She started her sporting career in Rača (today-a city part of Bratislava), where she first entered the competition and at the age of thirteen, she played in the national table tennis league. In 1965, she participated in the European Championship for the first time. It took place in Hungary. As a junior she won eight medals and gained a place in the representation of Czechoslovakia. She achieved the greatest success of her career at the World Table Tennis Championships in Sarajevo in 1973. Alica won a silver medal in singles and bronze in mixed doubles. Since then, no European female has managed to make it to the final at the World Championships. As a member of representation, she never joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia nor became a member of the Socialist Youth Union. She was monitored by the State Security (in Slovak: Štátna bezpečnosť) during her career. In 1976, she was excluded from the representation, but this exclusion is believed to be fabricated. In 1987 she joined Austrian table tennis club. After joining the club, she was interrogated several times by State Security. During her career she won 30 medals at championships around the world. Since 2018, she has organized events on the occasion of World Table Tennis Day in Slovakia., which takes place on 6th April.
The best sportsmen of Czechoslovakia (1973) - from the right Mašita, Jan Kodeš, Alica Grofová, Milena Duchková, Helena Fibingerová, Pospíšilovci, Bačkář, Vymazal.
The best sportsmen of Czechoslovakia (1973) - from the right Mašita, Jan Kodeš, Alica Grofová, Milena Duchková, Helena Fibingerová, Pospíšilovci, Bačkář, Vymazal.
