Čáslavská

October 2020, 176 pages

Available material: English sample, German sample

Rights sold to: Germany (Verlagsleiter)

The story of an extraordinary woman – the great Czech gymnast Věra Čáslavská

Mexico City, a mental health asylum in Prague, world championships and communist state police investigation rooms: This comic book adaptation of the life of the extraordinary Věra Čáslavská takes its readers on a ride.

Čáslavská, the most successful Czech sportswoman of all time and once the second most famous woman on the planet, is a national symbol of courage. With seven gold medals and four silver ones, she ranks among the most memorable personalities in the history of the Olympic Games; still, she had to face several setbacks in her life that nearly brought her to her knees. And as strong as she was, her marriage was hell: Her husband was jealous of her fame, cheated on her constantly, and treated Čáslavská herself with aggression.

Věra Čáslavská was a strong, loyal person who never gave up the fight against lies. After the Soviet invasion of 1968, she refused to withdraw her signature from the Two Thousand Words manifesto, calling for political reforms – though an Olympic champion, she preferred the humiliation of having to clean apartment buildings, which was the regime’s punishment for her dissent. And that is by no means the end of her story