Jaroslav SKOBLA

In addition to his two Olympic medals, Jaroslav Skobla was 1923 World Champion as a light-heavyweight. After his victory at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics Skobla only competed in Czechoslovakia, winning national titles in 1923-25 and 1927-28.

Before the war Skobla was a policeman. After the communists seized power, the anti-communist Skobla had to quit his jobs to become an accountant and part-time bouncer in a pub in Praha. At the age of 60 he died of lung cancer. He was the father of Jiří Skobla who originally also wanted to become a weightlifter, but took up the shot put on the advice of his doctors, and won a bronze medal in that event at the 1956 Olympics.