Former president Václav Havel was not an enthusiastic sports fan. Moreover, when the Czech national team played in Nagano on Sunday, February 22, 1998 in the morning (Central European time) of the final against Russia, he was still in the Střešovice hospital.
“We watched the final with great tension, but in the hospital room, because my husband was currently hospitalized,” Dagmar Havlová described the memorable day for Seznam Zprávy.
After the phenomenal success of the Czech hockey players, Václav Havel initiated the sending of a special plane to Tokyo to transport the hockey team, full of overseas NHL stars including Jaromír Jágr or Dominik Hašek, to Prague for a joint celebration.
The hockey players, who had already celebrated during the long flight from Japan, arrived in freezing Prague late in the evening. Even before they reached the Old Town Square, full of enthusiastic fans, they stopped at the garden of the president’s house in Dělostrelecká Street in Prague. The meeting of the presidential couple with the “golden boys” is one of the iconic shots referring to Nagano.
“I welcome you to my home as warmly as possible,” President Václav Havel told them upon their arrival. “And above all, thank you for the fantastic representation of our state. Thanks to you, today billions of people know what the Czech Republic is. You have earned her good name more than many politicians. But you have another merit – you have contributed to the fact that there is a good mood in this country. The people are nice to each other, and even to me, as a representative of their state.’
On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of this event, we asked Dagmar Havelová to remember it for Seznam Zprávy.
It is exactly a quarter of a century since the phenomenal victory of the Czech hockey team at the Olympic Games in Nagano. Is this event one of those that you yourself will never forget? What comes to mind when you think of gold from Nagano?
I remember great pride in our hockey players and a sense of patriotism. And also a huge frost. Hundreds of people who couldn’t get to the Old Town Square and wanted to welcome the Czech hockey team stood in the cold for several hours in front of our house. My cousin and I cooked grog for these people in huge pots, which we poured into our own cups. Only then did I find out that almost everyone kept them as a souvenir.
Did you and your husband watch the Czech hockey players’ successful championship campaign as enthusiastic spectators? If I’m not mistaken, President Václav Havel was not exactly a sports fan…
We watched the finale with great suspense, but in the hospital room, because the husband was just hospitalized.
Memories of Nagano
Seznam Zpráv interview series for the 25th anniversary of Nagano, the greatest success of Czech hockey in its history.
Do you remember who came up with the idea that after the hockey players return from Japan, the hockey champions will stop at your place in Dělostrelecká street and Mr. President and you will greet them? Who actually helped organize such a meeting?
I assume that it was Václav’s idea. And they all obeyed what he said. But since he couldn’t afford to go to the Old Town Square after being released from the hospital, especially in the freezing cold, we welcomed the hockey players to our home in the garden.
Of course, those who were in charge of the presidential program helped with the organization. My idea was to take care of hundreds of people outside our garden gates, buy rum and make them grog or tea.
Did you meet people like Jaromír Jágr, Dominik Hašek, Jiří Šlégr…? Could you say they belonged to “your world”?
Jaromír was with my other friends – American astronaut Andrew Feustel and quantum physicist Štěpán Rak and their wives – in my garden in the summer.
“Jesus, Havel is calling!” or how the minister sent a special to Tokyo
“We were returning with the Minister of the Interior at the time Cyril Svoboda from a business trip. We were just on D1 and the phone rang. ‘Jesus, Havel is calling,’ said the minister. ‘Good morning, Mr. President…,'” recalls the lawyer Dagmar Raupachováthen the minister’s spokesperson, at the end of February 1998.
President Václav Havel wanted a government plane to fly to Japan and bring the entire team of gold hockey players to Prague. “It really wasn’t easy. It was a flash event. We started organizing it from the car on D1. It was then dealt with at the ministry all night, flights over individual countries had to be arranged.”
Dagmar Raupachová, who was on board the special flight to Tokyo with Minister Svoboda, also remembers how, during the flight over China, they were told to leave the airspace immediately. “So we had to direct the flight over the northern border.”
When reminiscing about the flight with the hockey players to Prague, she remembers “great joy and an amazingly cohesive atmosphere”. “When we were about to land in Prague, the news came that the government led by the Prime Minister (Josef Tošovský, editor’s note) had arrived at the airport. There was a bit of panic on the plane. It was decided that “Růža”, i.e. Vladimír Růžička, would go for the hockey players. He stood straight and managed it with honor,” recalls Dagmar Raupachová with humor. “Fortunately, it was cold at the time, and as we know – cold air is refreshing.”
