Růžena Košťálová

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexFemale
Full nameRůžena•Košťálová (-Dusilová)
Used nameRůžena•Košťálová
Born21 February 1924 in Poděbrady, Středočeský kraj (CZE)
NOC Czechoslovakia
Nationality Czechia

Biography

Růžena Košťálová took up canoeing at a young age and quickly became proficient at the sport. Over the course of her career she won 12 Czechoslovakian national titles, as well as a silver medal in the K-2 500 at the 1948 Canoe Sprint World Championships, alongside non-Olympian Marta Pavlisová. These World Championships were the first which took place after WWII ended and were also held in London for non-olympic disciplines. At the Olympics she participated in the K-1 500, the inaugural woman’s canoeing event at the Games. She won her heat in the opening round, albeit with a time slower than all other competitors in the second heat, and in the final she could only manage fifth. She retired from active competition shortly thereafter, having married a doctor, and, in 1968, moved to Switzerland and many years later back to her birth town Poděbrady in the Czech Republic.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal Nationality As
1948 Summer Olympics Canoe Sprint (Canoeing) TCH CZE Růžena Košťálová
Kayak Singles, 500 metres, Women (Olympic) 5

Special Notes