Miroslav Sláma

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameMiroslav•Sláma
Used nameMiroslav•Sláma
Other namesMichael Slama
Born17 February 1917 in Třebíč, Vysočina (CZE)
Died30 November 2008 in Thousand Oaks, California (USA)
AffiliationsČLTK Praha, Praha (CZE)
NOC Czechoslovakia
Nationality Czechia
Medals OG
Gold 0
Silver 1
Bronze 0
Total 1

Biography

Miroslav Sláma played for Charles University (Prague) while a law student, and joined ČLTK during World War II. Initially a forward, he switched to defense, but remained a frequent scorer. After trying to help a friend’s mother, Sláma was briefly imprisoned in the concentration camp at Terezin (Theresienstadt), but returned to ice hockey after the camp was liberated by the Soviets in May 1945. ČLTK was one of the top Czechoslovakian teams in that era, finishing second in the championships from 1946 through 1948. As a member of the Czechoslovakian national team, Sláma won the country’s first World Championship title in 1947, without Canada competing, however. At the 1948 Olympics, Canada did play, and they defeated Sláma and Czechoslovakia only on goal difference.

After the Soviets rose to power later that year, Sláma and his teammate Oldřich Zábrodský defected to Switzerland during a tournament in Davos. Sláma stayed there as a coach and player, before moving on to the United States in 1953. Sláma attended Denver University where he met Betty Woodhouse and they soon married. They both graduated in 1954 with master’s degrees in library science and Miroslav would make that his career. He started at the University of Idaho library, but then moved to Cal Poly Pomona University. Sláma eventually moved for the fledgling Moorpark College, where he was in charge of the creation of the library and hired its initial staff.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal Nationality As
1948 Winter Olympics Ice Hockey (Ice Hockey) TCH CZE Miroslav Sláma
Ice Hockey, Men (Olympic) Czechoslovakia 2 Silver

Special Notes