Mgr. Blanka Paulů

"Then I went and I had to make the lead, so I came second. Dáša came with a bunch of others, yet totally in touch with the front. I was supposed to make the lead, so I came in second. Gábina had the task of losing as little as possible, she came in fourth, lost two places, but in totally in touch. And Květa had to make the final result. It may seem I make things up, but I suffer from migraines, a lot. And I knew before the start that a migraine would come from the stress. I kept telling myself it couldn't come just now - I just had to make it. I did a really good stretch, but as I got to the finish line and the weight of it came off me, I got a terrible migraine. I finished and went and threw up behind the shed. A headache, a classic migraine that I still suffer from today. I didn't even know how they were struggling in there until afterwards, in such a semi-coma of headache, I went to rejoice with the girls and went to see the last stretch. I didn't even know how Gabina fights there, I didn't really enjoy it. And then I wasn't even in the mood for any celebrations, I still had a headache all afternoon and felt sick."

"A new team was put together with Mirka Jaškovská, myself and Gábina Soukalová. Two or three Slovaks, Jana Tašová, Labašková, Milka Šuleková. A completely new team, we started and there was a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of winning enthusiasm. Strangely enough, when I was married, the first year I was put in, I didn't really want to go with them. A few times, I submitted a confirmation from the coach in Vrchlabí, Ilja Matouš, that I couldn't go. I didn't want to go, the first summer really I didn't want to go. But then, when the first snow started, there was no other option. We were a young team. Enthusiasm, huge enthusiasm was half the success. We trained a lot, a lot, but we didn't find it difficult. Huge enthusiasm, and that's what I think brought success at the championship in '74. When we talk to Gabina [then Sekajová, now Soukalová], we call it the golden days of skiing. There was a good vibe in the team, we wanted it badly, I think that was the success. Success came and it seemed to be completely free. We were really successful there, the relay team came third, I came second, fourth, the girls were each just over ten. When we arrived in Prague, there were people waiting and welcoming us. Gábina and I were thinking, 'What are they doing, what kind of glory is this?' We didn't expect anything, we were laughing all the time and we were stress-free. It was all like a piece of cake for us. That was half the success, the mood in the squad. The other coach was Petr Honzl, and the mood on the team was great."

"The biggest problem that was bothering me was my brother. Mom was crying that my brother ran away and was back at it. See, for peace of mind, our parents took us to our grandmother's in Choceň a day or two later. I remember that well, I don't know why, maybe dad was involved in something. They drove me and my brother to Choceň right away. I remember we stayed by a huge overpass. There was a huge bridge by the station over these rocks. He always invited me to join him for everything of course. The first thing when we got there, he went up on the bridge to throw rocks at trains that were running loaded with guns, tanks or cannons, I remember vaguely. The first thing we did was throw throw stones down from the bridge at the trains. So we went for it. My parents came to get my brother the very second or third day, as grandmother said she only wanted me there and it was impossible with my brother. The first thing we did was throw stones at the trains... It was really tough with my brother... So parents took him away again."