1938 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Explained
The 11th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1938.
According to the website Gymnastics-History.com, various original source materials stated that the political situation, with what would become World War II on the near horizon, was grave in Czechoslovakia. An article in the 28 May 1938 edition of The New York Times described the political situation in Czechoslovakia as a “powder barrel” about which Soviet spokespersons “continued to evince concern all week over the possibilities of a general war blazing up from the Czechoslovakia situation[1] Also, the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer stated, in an article in their 6 July 1938 edition, “In the midst of the gravest crisis experienced since the foundation of Czechoslovakia, Prague is celebrating the tenth Congress of the Slavonic Gymnastic Movement called the Sokol, or Falcon”. It was due to this political context that the 1938 World Championships were under-attended. A Sokol publication stated
“Only one thing they were not that happy about. The Hungarians, who were an excellent team in Budapest and Berlin, and the Germans, who were 0.5% ahead of our team in Berlin, did not have their strong competitors here. Both teams were registered for the competition and withdrew only at the last minute. The Dutch team apologized on the eve of the competition and did not participate.”
Men
Team final
| Medal | Country | Points |
|---|
|
Jan Gajdoš, Gustav Hrubý, Alois Hudec, Emanuel Löffler, Vratislav Petráček, Jan Sládek, Jindřich Tintěra | 806.800 |
|
Albert Bachmann, Walter Beck, Eugen Mack, Hans Negelin, Michael Reusch, Leo Schürmann, ?? Smid | 791.833 |
|
Miroslav Forte, Boris Gregorka, Josip Kujundžić, Janez Pristov, Josip Primožič, Miloš Skrbinšek, Jože Vadnov | 741.300 |
| 4 | | 740.133 |
| 5 | | 681.233 |
| 6 | | 626.033 |
| 7 | | 558.400 |
| 8 | | 518.933 | |
All-around
A total of 59 competitors were individually ranked in the all-around competition.[2]
[3] Floor exercise
Pommel horse
Rings
Vault
Parallel bars
Horizontal bar
Women
Team final
| Medal | Country | Points |
|---|
|
Vlasta Děkanová, Božena Dobešová, Marie Hendrychová, Anna Nezerpová, Matylda Pálfyová, Marie Skálová, Zdeňka Veřmiřovská | 552.76 |
|---|
|
Ančka Hafner, Ema Kovacic, Marta Podpac, Marta Pustišek, Dušica Radivojević, Lidija Rupnik, Milena Sket, Jelica Vazzaz[4] | 513.96 |
|---|
| | 510.21 |
|---|
| 4 | | 286.34 | |
All-around
A total of 32 woman gymnasts were individually ranked for the all-around competition.With the context of both the previous World Championships which were the first with a women's segment to the competition as well as the interceding Olympic Games, the outcome and composition of the women's all-around podium at these championships was significant. Reportedly, cheating occurred at the first 1934 women's installment of these games[5] which, when undone, allowed the Czechoslovakian team and their foremost star Vlasta Děkanová to be the first-place finishers, as a team and individual, respectively. Going into the 1936 Olympics, the Czechoslovakians and Děkanová were the favorites, but had to take 2nd place behind the home-ground advantaged German team (who did not compete at the 1934 Worlds), and the top three scoring individuals were all German. These 1938 Worlds were hosted in Prague, Czechoslovakia, and this time all three spots on the all-around podium were occupied by individuals from the Czechoslovakian team. Děkanová (a Bohemian) successfully defended her first-place finish from the previous worlds, Zdeňka Veřmiřovská (a Moravian) won silver, and Matylda Pálfyová (a Slovakian) won bronze. The three regions from which each hailed within the former Czechoslovakia were the 3 largest and most significant regions of that nation, so the fullest representation possible of geographical diversity within that country was made manifest on this all-around podium.
| Rank | Nation | Gymnast | Gymnastics Events | Athletics Events | Individual Grand Totals |
|---|
| † | †† | Flying Rings | | | Gymnastics Events Totals | 60 meters | Discus | Athletics Events Totals | Individual Grand Total |
|---|
| | | 9.65 | 14.85 | 9.55 | 14.9 | 14.76 | 63.66 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 83.66 |
| | | 9.4 | 14.1 | 9.9 | 14.55 | 14.76 | 62.71 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 82.71 |
| | | 7.95 | 14.75 | 9.95 | 14.7 | 14.83 | 62.18 | 10 | 9.8 | 19.8 | 81.98 |
| 4 | | | 8.15 | 14.7 | 9.65 | 14.4 | 13.4 | 60.3 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 80.3 |
| 5 | | | 7.35 | 14.7 | 9.2 | 14.25 | 14.6 | 60.1 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 80.1 |
| 6 | | | 7.95 | 14.5 | 9.25 | 14.15 | 14.73 | 60.58 | 10 | 8.3 | 18.3 | 78.88 |
| 7 | | | 8.6 | 13.75 | 8.65 | 13.4 | 14.46 | 58.86 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 78.86 |
| 8 | | | 9.25 | 14.7 | 8.75 | 14.2 | 14.5 | 61.4 | 10 | 7.3 | 17.3 | 78.7 |
| 9 | | | 8.5 | 14.3 | 9.45 | 14.35 | 14.43 | 61.03 | 8 | 8.8 | 16.8 | 77.83 |
| 10 | | | 8.8 | 14.8 | 9.7 | 11.6 | 14.66 | 59.56 | 9 | 8.4 | 17.4 | 76.96 |
|
† Compulsory Uneven Bars†† Optional Uneven Bars
[6] [7] Vault
Compulsory Uneven Bars
Optional Uneven Bars
Balance Beam
Flying Rings
60 meters
Discus
| Medal | Country | Gymnast | Distance (meters) |
|---|
| | Milena Sket | 30.23 |
|---|
| | Vlasta Děkanová | 29.80 |
|---|
| | Marie Skálová | 28.15 |
|---|
|
References
Notes and References
- Web site: History.com . Gymnastics . 1938: The First All-Around World Champion in Women’s Gymnastics. Gymnastics-History.com. April 28, 2024.
- News: Macanovic . Hrvoje . July 30, 1938 . Setsko gimnasticko prvenstvo 1938 u Pragu. . World Gymnastics Championships 1938 in Prague. . sl . Sokolsky Glasnik . 9 . 26–29 . 34 . January 11, 2021.
- Web site: History.com . Gymnastics . 1938: Another Perfect 10 and Shot Put Struggles during the Men’s Competition at the World Championships. Gymnastics-History.com. April 12, 2024.
- Vreca . Sanja . 2016 . ŽIVLJENJEPIS SLOVENSKIH VRHUNSKIH TELOVADK OD 1936 DO 1970 . Curriculum Vitae of Slovenian Top Gymnasts From 1936 to 1970 . Diploma . University of Ljubljana . January 11, 2021.
- Web site: Stříbrná zlatá Vlasta Děkanová - Mistryně světa v tělocviku. 18 August 2019.
- Web site: History.com . Gymnastics . 1938: The First All-Around World Champion in Women’s Gymnastics. Gymnastics-History.com. April 10, 2024.
- News: . July 2, 1938 . Ceskoslovensko vyhralo mezinarodni telocvicne zavody. . Czechoslovakia won international gym races. . cs . Vecer . 25 . 154 . 30 . December 21, 2020.
