If we were to believe fairy tales, then the first judge gave Hanka Mašková beauty, multifaceted talent and intelligence. The second added success and fame. But the third one…
The book reveals the true story of a girl who became an idol. When she went out on the ice, the spectators at the screens couldn't even breathe. To them, she was a magical fairy, a romantic princess with beautiful, deep eyes.
However, they had no idea what sadness and loneliness was hidden behind them.
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Hana Mašková was born on September 26, 1949 in Prague. Her mother Marie was an assistant cook at a kindergarten, her father Karel a waiter at the Paříž hotel. Hana has been engaged in figure skating since she was five years old. That's when Karel Glogar, a well-known talent scout, noticed her at the winter stadium. She took part in the first European Championship before her fourteenth birthday, a year later she went to the Olympics in Innsbruck. She won the Czechoslovak championship five times and as our only female figure skater won an Olympic medal, namely bronze in 1968 in Grenoble. However, viewers mainly remember her as the sovereign winner of the European Championship in Sweden, where she performed a phenomenal free ride to the music of Smetana Vltava.
After ending her sports career, she worked as a soloist of the ice revue Holiday on Ice. The popular lyricist Jiří Štaidl played a major role in her private life for a long time. Hana Mašková tragically died in France on March 31, 1972.