Gabriela SVOBODOVA

Gabriela Svobodová made her international début at the 1974 World Championships, where she won a bronze medal in the relay and the high point of her career came a decade later at the 1984 Winter Olympics, when she, Dagmar Švubová, Blanka Paulů and Květa Jeriová won a surprising silver medal in the relay. Besides those successes, Svobodová also competed at the 1976 and 1980 Olympics and the 1978, 1982 and 1985 World Championships, her best individual finish at those tournaments being 13th in both 5 km at the 1976 Olympics and 10 km at the 1982 World Championships. Svobodová retired from sports in 1985 and later worked as a school teacher and cross-country coach in Jablonec nad Nisou. Although an ethnic Slovak, Svobodová opted for Czech citizenship after the split of Czechoslovakia. After the 1976 Olympics, Svobodová married fellow Czechoslovakian cross-country skier Jaroslav Svoboda, but they later divorced. She later married former Czechoslovakian ski jumper Karel Soukal and their daughter Gabriela Soukalová represented the Czech Republic in biathlon at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.