Vladimír Olegovic Zábrodský (7 March 1923 – 20 March 2020) was a

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) **Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

and

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player. Born in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, he won a silver medal with the Czechoslovakian national team at the

1948 Winter Olympics The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games (german: V. Olympische Winterspiele; french: Ves Jeux olympiques d'hiver; it, V Giochi olimpici invernali; rm, V Gieus olimpics d'enviern) and commonly known as St. Moritz ...

, and won the world championships (

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

and

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

). Zábrodský was also a tennis player and member of the Czechoslovakian

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

team. He was inducted into the

International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame The IIHF Hall of Fame is a hall of fame operated by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It was founded in 1997, and has resided at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto since 1998. Prior to 1997, the IIHF housed exhibits at the Inter ...

in 1997.

Ice hockey career

He was one of the inaugural members of the

, inducted in 1997. He played in the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League for LTC Prague from 1940 to 1950, Spartak ČKD Sokolovo from 1950 to 1960, and

Bohemians ČKD Praha Bohemians Praha 1905 (previously named FC Bohemians Praha) is a Prague-based football club, which was founded in 1905 as AFK Vršovice. The club won the 1982–83 Czechoslovak First League, its only league championship. Its colours are green a ...

from 1963 to 1965, collecting 306 goals.

Tennis career

Zábrodský also represented

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

in the

during

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

, and

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

. He made his Davis Cup debut for Czechoslovakia in the 1948 Europe Zone second round tie against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. He played the doubles rubber with Jaroslav Drobný, beating the Brazilian pair of Manoel Fernandes and Ernesto Petersen in straight sets. He also participated in the 1948 Europe Zone Final, where he played in the dead singles rubber against

Torsten Johansson Torsten Johansson (11 April 1920 – 14 May 2004) was a Swedish tennis player who was active during the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Tennis career Johansson set a record by shutting out two opponents at the 1947 Wimbledon, when he beat Brian Royds and ...

, losing in four sets. Zábrodský's last Davis Cup appearance was in the losing second round tie against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

in the 1956 Europe Zone draw. Zábrodský played in five singles Davis Cup rubbers, two of which he won and also in five doubles rubbers, with three wins.

Personal and later life

Zábrodský was born in

. His mother was Russian, and his brother Oldřich was also a hockey player.Alena Gilbert
Hokejista Oldřich Zábrodský o životě v emigraci
at Krajane.net, 3 June 2008. In 1965 Zábrodský defected to Sweden, where he would spend the rest of his life. Zábrodský and his wife used fake passports and traveled through

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

and

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

before reaching

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, where Oldřich, who was playing for Lausanne HC, met them. He took up coaching ice hockey, and worked for Leksands IF,

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Name The club is named ...

, and Rögle BK. Later on Zábrodský returned to tennis, serving as a coach. He died on 20 March 2020 in Stockholm at the age of 97.

References

External links

*
Profile

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zabrodsky, Vladimir 1923 births 2020 deaths Czech ice hockey centres Czech ice hockey coaches Czech male tennis players Czechoslovak defectors Czechoslovak emigrants to Sweden Czechoslovak ice hockey centres Czechoslovak ice hockey coaches Czechoslovak male tennis players Czechoslovak people of Russian descent Djurgårdens IF Hockey coaches HC Sparta Praha players Ice hockey players at the 1948 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1956 Winter Olympics IIHF Hall of Fame inductees Medalists at the 1948 Winter Olympics Olympic ice hockey players for Czechoslovakia Olympic medalists in ice hockey Olympic silver medalists for Czechoslovakia Sportspeople from Prague Swedish ice hockey coaches Tennis players from Prague