The former Czech national Coach Vladimir PROROK became 80

Vladimir Prorok
(Foto, Archive 1983)

In the capital of the Czech Republik, Prague celebrated Vladimir PROROK, the first European Champion of artistic gymnastic and the vice European Champion on the still rings (Ist Europeans in Frankfurt 1955) his 80th birthday on Tuesday (July 28).
Since1958 caused the national coach of the former CSR an upswing of artistic gymnastics in his country, which reached its climax in the 1960´s with the success of Eva BOSAKOVA, the Olympic balance beam winner in Rome (1960) and with the eight Olympic Gold medals of Vera CASLAVSKA in Tokyo (1964) and Mexiko-City (1968).
In the beginning of the 1980´s he was also in charge as the national coach for the (western-) German women...

The former German gymnastics supervisor Hans-Juergen Zacharias brought PROROK to Germany with his wife Alena (born as Tinterova), who had the reputation as a great balance beam coach. All of this already took place in 1981 so that the Czech strategist could prepare the German female gymnasts for the World Championchips.

Vladimir PROROK, 1984: ... showed the German athletes the way to the top!
Gymnast from the left Heike Schwarm, Anja Wilhelm;
in the back: Astrid Beckers, Angela Golz

In consequens of this Prorok changed existing structures and introduced things that were in his opinion indispensable if trying to compete on an international level. So he opend for example the boarding school like housing for the athletes in the base for competitive sports in Frankfurt...
This might be one of the reasons for the increases successes as could be seen in the results of the 1983 World Championships (Budapest, 8th rank) and the Olympic Games 1984 (Los Angeles, 4th rank, without socialist countries participating).
A few things he implemented were not supported by the mainly on mass sport focused sport functionaries of the German Gymnastics Federation, ...

... but he also did not only earn sympathy from the ranks of the local coaches and clubs.

"If you want to be on the first rank in the world, then you have to train harder than everyone else" - was his motto.
Eventually he created an area of conflict in the former west European society in which methods like central advancement and the regulation of processes concerning competitive sports were very unusual. On the one hand international success was desired but on the other hand no one was aware of the needed structures to promote this and its consequences ( ... which seems still to be a problem in a few sports associations.)
After the climax of the Western German female artistic gymnastics with the 11th rank at the 1985 World Championships in Montreal problems started to increase. The German Gymnastics Federation (DTB) took this occasion as a reason to realease the Czech from his duties at the beginning of 1987.
After the 15th rank in Rotterdam at the Olympic qualification for Seoul 1988 was not reached, Wolfgang Bohner was put in charge for the next Olympic cycle.

Until today one is said that the times in which the Czech female gymanstics deserved the titel as the world class, next to the Soviet, Rumanian and East-Germans, are over.
Vladimir PROROK was one of the fathers of this former success!
In spring 2009 he was awarded the "Tibi Gracias" medal by the National Czech Olympic Committee.
Today the pensioner and his wife Alena live in Prague as an active gardener. He already noted saidly that the chances for a Czech medal are not very good in this time...!
(c) Eckhard Herholz, GYMmedia INTERNATIONAl.