Zdeněk Koubek: A Forgotten Legacy in Czech Sports and Gender Identity
In the 1930s, Zdeněk Koubek was one of the most dominant figures in women’s athletics in Czechoslovakia. He was fast, strong, and record-breaking–a rising star of international track and field. But behind the headlines and medals was a deeper, more complicated story: one of gender identity, public scrutiny, and ultimately, a choice between personal authenticity and athletic fame. Born Zdenka Koubková in the small Czech town of Paskov, she was raised in Brno. It was there that Zdena, in her late teens, joined the local chapter of Orel, a Catholic youth group focused on sports. She loved to ice skate, and but found she excelled in track and field. Koubek emerged as a gifted athlete in the early 1930s. At just 19 years old, he broke his first national record in 1932 and went on to set five more. By 1934, Koubková was one of Czechoslovakia’s most celebrated female athletes, winning two medals at the Women’s World Games in London and breaking two world records in the process. Zdena’s next world record came in the medley relay (2×100 metres, 200 metres and 800 metres), at 3:14.4. That August, she won the 800-metre event at the 1934 Women’s World Games, in...