Olympic champ Rezkova-Hubnerova dies at 64

Olympic champ Rezkova-Hubnerova dies at 64

Published Oct. 20, 2014 8:23 a.m. ET

PRAGUE (AP) Miloslava Rezkova-Hubnerova, who won the Olympic gold in women's high jump for Czechoslovakia in 1968 aged 18, has died.

The Czech athletics federation says Monday that Rezkova-Hubnerova died overnight after battling a serious long-term disease. She was 64.

In a surprising victory, Rezkova-Hubnerova cleared 1.82 meters to claim gold at the Mexico Games. To stay calm, she was reading ''Three Men in a Boat'' by Jerome K. Jerome before her title-winning jump.

In another major victory, she won the European Championships in 1969. She later married her coach Rudolf Hubner with whom she had a son and a daughter.

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Born July 22, 1950 in Prague, she was doing various athletics disciplines before winning a high-jump competition as a substitute at age 13.

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