Vera Caslavska

Vera Caslavska was a Czechoslovak artistic gymnast born May 3, 1942, in Prague, who died August 30, 2016, and ranks among the most accomplished athletes in gymnastics history, winning 22 international titles between 1959 and 1968 including seven Olympic gold medals. She is the only gymnast, male or female, to have won an Olympic gold medal in every individual event, and she joined Larisa Latynina and later Simone Biles as one of only three women to win the Olympic all-around title at two consecutive Games, in 1964 and 1968. At the 1968 Mexico City medal ceremonies she silently looked down and away during the Soviet national anthem in protest of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, a gesture that led the Czechoslovak regime to force her into retirement and restrict her for years, until the 1989 Velvet Revolution restored her standing and she later served as president of the Czech Olympic Committee.