Anna Chmelková, rod. Blanáriková
* 1944
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“We had great applause at the opening, which is a very nice moment of the Olympics. Right after the Mexicans, even larger than the home athletes. We had such success; it was obvious that even in Mexico they were aware of this. We all got an offer that anyone who wants can stay there after the Olympics and they will find him a job.”
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“The director of the library was persuading me and trying to manipulate me to join the party. My daughter had already started going to school, it was normalization. I was in charge of the specialist department. I don't want to be vulgar, but I told him I wouldn't join the party, I wasn't convinced, and I'd step into shi... then join the party. I said it aloud. Then I was downgraded to an ordinary worker and the one, who came after me had to consult me. I finally returned there when it wasn't so wild after normalization.”
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„We were in Romania when the Russians came. There were more athletes there preparing for the Olympics in Mexico. It was horrible. Someone heard on the radio that we were invaded by Russians. We were paralysed, we couldn’t understand what happened, how it happened. Immediately I was thinking about my close relatives-my husband, my child, my mother was dead already. My son was with my mother-in-law, who was taking care of him, whilst I was at the Olympics. It was a horrible feeling. “
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Bratislava, 11.05.2019
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I was longing for the fall of the communist regime
Anna Chmelková (née Blanáriková) was born on July 26, 1944, in Špačince but grew up in Bratislava. From her childhood, she devoted herself to athletics. At just 19, she set a Slovak and Czechoslovak junior record on a 400-meter run, making her nominated for the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Due to an unexpected pregnancy, she did not travel to Tokyo. After maternity leave, she quickly returned to athletics and in 1966 she won the title of the European champion in the 400m run. To this day, she is the first and only Slovak with a European Championship title and also the holder of four titles of the Czechoslovak champion in the same discipline. Finally, Anna attended the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico, however, she did not achieve any significant success. Besides sports, she also studied librarianship at the Faculty of Arts of Comenius University in Bratislava. After finishing her sports career, she worked as a librarian in several libraries in Slovakia. Today she lives in Bratislava.
