Before the first post-war games in London, the then twenty-one-year-old falcon from Lulč went through tough elimination battles and made it to the nine nominees. In the Olympic competition, which lasted until midnight, the Czechoslovak gymnasts were closely following the Hungarians for a long time. A flawless performance in the final joint piece with cones took them to the highest level. But the joy of the Olympic gold was marred by the death of one of the members of the team, Eliška Misáková, from polio right in the British capital.
Shortly after the games, Ďurovičová, like some other members of the gold team, soon ended competitive gymnastics, because the communist regime banned the activities of Sokol. “It was cruel, but nothing could be done. We got used to it and hated them too. We were falcons and they liked us at Sokol because we did a great job for Sokol,” said Ďurovičová in an interview last year , which was created for the Četkast podcast special for the upcoming ČTK Olympic Moments outdoor photo exhibition.
Ďurovičová no longer wanted to be involved in the new unified socialist physical education. She exchanged top sport for family and work responsibilities. But she stayed with the sport recreationally throughout her life, and for an admirably long time. She still skied in the Alps and played tennis in her eighties.
