The 11th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1938.

According to the website Gymnastics-History.com, various original source materials stated that the political situation, with what would become World War II on the near horizon, was grave in Czechoslovakia. An article in the 28 May 1938 edition of The New York Times described the political situation in Czechoslovakia as a “powder barrel” about which Soviet spokespersons “continued to evince concern all week over the possibilities of a general war blazing up from the Czechoslovakia situation Also, the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer stated, in an article in their 6 July 1938 edition, “In the midst of the gravest crisis experienced since the foundation of Czechoslovakia, Prague is celebrating the tenth Congress of the Slavonic Gymnastic Movement called the Sokol, or Falcon”. It was due to this political context that the 1938 World Championships were under-attended. A Sokol publication stated “Only one thing they were not that happy about. The Hungarians, who were an excellent team in Budapest and Berlin, and the Germans, who were 0.5% ahead of our team in Berlin, did not have their strong competitors here. Both teams were registered for the competition and withdrew only at the last minute. The Dutch team apologized on the eve of the competition and did not participate.”

Medals

Men

Team final

Medal Country Points Jan Gajdoš, Gustav Hrubý, Alois Hudec, Emanuel Löffler, Vratislav Petráček, Jan Sládek, Jindřich Tintěra 806.800 Albert Bachmann, Walter Beck, Eugen Mack, Hans Negelin, Michael Reusch, Leo Schürmann, ?? Smid 791.833 Miroslav Forte, Boris Gregorka, Josip Kujundžić, Janez Pristov, Josip Primožič, Miloš Skrbinšek, Jože Vadnov 741.300 4 740.133 5 681.233 6 626.033 7 558.400 8 518.933

All-around A total of 59 competitors were individually ranked in the all-around competition. Medal Country Gymnast Score Jan Gajdoš 138.06 Jan Sládek 137.466 Eugen Mack 136.40 4 Alois Hudec 136.333 5 Leo Schürmann 134.533 6 Gustav Hrubý 133.833 7 Walter Beck 132.60 8 Hans Negelin 131.366 9 Emanuel Löffler 131.333 10 Vratislav Petráček 129.833 11 Guglielmo Schmid 128.766 12 Lucien Masset 128.633 13 Albert Bachmann 127.533 14 Josip Vadnav 127.3 15 Janez Pristov 127.266 16 Armand Walter 126.6 17 Maurice Benhaim 125.266 18 Gaston Murray 124.666 19 Josip Primožič 124.633 20 Jindřich Tintěra 124.133 21 Edmund Kosman 124.1 22 (tie) Boris Gregorka 123.766 22 (tie) Jey Kugeler 123.766 24 Michael Reusch 121.00 25 Wiencenty Pietrzykowski 120.833 26 Josip Kujundžić 119.366 27 Siegbert Bader 119.333 28 Louis Riollet 119.166 29 Miroslav Forte 118.9 30 Josef Novotný 116.3 31 Stjepan Boltižar 116.033 32 Paul Cacheux 115.5 33 Armand Solbach 115.1 34 Mathias Logelin 114.566 35 Miloš Skrbinšek 111.866 36 Wilhelm Breguła 110.666 37 Nino Mirtchev 110.366 38 André Weingand 109.366 39 Tadeusz Bettyna 109.066 40 Jos Romersa 108.366 41 Paweł Gaca 108.333 42 Bernard Radajewski 108.233 43 Arther Defer 104.1 44 Hri Boddaert, Jr. 103.466 45 Georges Wengler 99.9 46 Adolf Bickert 99.433 47 Wilhelm Szlosarek 99.133 48 Kosta Ignatov 96.033 49 Maksymilian Pradela 95.966 50 Joseph Foulon 93.933 51 Franz Haupert 90.566 52 Willy Klein 88.9 53 Ivan Tchouresky 86.133 54 Albert Maest 83.166 55 Metodi Christov 78.966 56 Josif Christov 74.833 57 Stan. Stobbaert 74.4 58 Ivan Siarov 72.6 59 Robert Weiwers 66.833

Floor exercise Medal Country Gymnast Score Jan Gajdoš 18.83 Alois Hudec† 18.56 Eugen Mack† 18.56 4 Michael Reusch18.36 5 (tie) Vratislav Petráček 18.26 5 (tie) Maurice Benhaim 18.26 5 (tie) Leo Schürmann 18.26 8 Lucien Masset 18.23 9 Emanuel Löffler 18.06 10 Walter Beck 18.00

† = Although on page 65 of the FIG’s 125-Year Anniversary Publication, Hudec and Mack are listed as having won silver and bronze, respectively, on the Floor Exercise, two different contemporaneous reports of these World Championships show Hudec and Mack as having tied for silver, each with "18.56" or "18.5 & 2/3" points.

Pommel horse Medal Country Gymnast Score Michael Reusch 19.56 Vratislav Petráček 19.46 Leo Schürmann 19.40 4 Jan Gajdoš 19.16 5 Jan Sládek 19.06 6 Eugen Mack 18.90 7 Albert Bachmann 18.76 8 Guglielmo Schmid 18.46 9 Alois Hudec 18.30 10 Jindřich Tintěra 18.23

Rings

Medal Country Gymnast Score Alois Hudec 19.63 Michael Reusch 19.30 Vratislav Petráček 18.76 4 Emanuel Löffler 18.43 5 Edmund Kosman 18.33 6 Eugen Mack 18.30 7 (tie) Jan Gajdoš 18.26 7 (tie) Miloš Skrbinšek 18.26 7 (tie) Jindřich Tintěra 18.26 10 Miroslav Forte 17.90

Vault Medal Country Gymnast Score Eugen Mack 19.83 Walter Beck 19.66 Hans Nagelin 19.50 4 Gustav Hrubý 19.36 5 Armand Walter 19.16 6 Leo Schürmann 19.06 7 Jey Kugeler 18.96 8 Albert Bachmann 18.93 9 (tie) Alois Hudec 18.90 9 (tie) Jože Vadnov 18.90

Parallel bars

Medal Country Gymnast Score Michael Reusch 19.56 Alois Hudec 19.53 Josip Primožič 18.73 4 Eugen Mack 18.66 5 Hans Nagelin 18.46 6 Jan Gajdoš 18.33 7 Lucien Masset 18.16 8 Guglielmo Schmid 18.13 9 (tie) Walter Beck 18.10 9 (tie) Leo Schürmann 18.10

Horizontal bar

Medal Country Gymnast Score Michael Reusch 19.76 Alois Hudec 19.70 Walter Beck 19.63 4 Eugen Mack 19.33 5 Josip Primožič 19.30 6 Leo Schürmann 19.16 7 Armand Walter 19.06 8 (tie) Jan Gajdoš 19.03 8 (tie) Josip Kujundžić 19.03 10 Jan Sládek 18.86

Track and Field and Athletics component According to the official commemorative publication for the 10th Prague Sokol Slet in 1938, of which these World Championships were a feature, as well as to an article on Gymnastics-History.com, there was a Track and Field and Athletics component to the competition, as there had been in some previous World Championships and Olympic Games. In this edition of the World Championships, the track and field and athletics segment of the competition included 100 meter, High jump, and Shot put events. According to information given in this 10th Sokol Slet publication, the maximum possible individual all-around total was 150 points, of which the track and field and athletics component contributed a total of 30 points, with a maximum of 10 points each being awarded for the 100 meter, High Jump, and Shot Put events.

Although there is no mention of there having been awarded medals solely for placements earned in the track and field segment of the competition, the ten highest-placing individuals in the Track and Field segment of the competition were:

Placement Country Gymnast Score 1 Wiencenty Pietrzykowski 29.6 2 Gustav Hrubý 28.7 3 Jan Sládek 28.4 4 Maurice Benhaim 26.6 5 Edmund Kosman 26.2 6 Jan Gajdoš 26.1 7 (tie) Bernard Radajewski 25.8 7 (tie) Leo Schürmann 25.8 9 Janez Pristov 25.5 10 Boris Gregorka 25.5

Gymnastics apparatuses only

The 1938 Sokol Slet commemorative publication also specifically articulates that, minus the track and field events, among the highest individual placers of the gymnastics-apparatus-only segment of the competition (120 of the 150 total points), the top 3 places were earned by:

Alois Hudec of Czechoslovakia, with 114.633 points Eugen Mack of Switzerland, with 113.6 points Michael Reusch of Switzerland, with 112.266 points

with Gajdoš, Petráček and Beck rounding out the top 6, in that order.

Under all World Championships and Olympic Games editions of artistic gymnastics competition since World War II, there is no longer a track and field or athletics component to the competition. In view of these currently prevailing standards, in "pure gymnastics" terms, people could argue that Alois Hudec could be considered one of the sport’s repeat World All-Around Champions, who are rare compared to single-time winners.

Women

Team final Medal Country Points Vlasta Děkanová, Božena Dobešová, Marie Hendrychová, Anna Nezerpová, Matylda Pálfyová, Marie Skálová, Zdeňka Veřmiřovská 552.76 Ančka Hafner, Ema Kovačić, Marta Podpac, Marta Pustišek, Dušica Radivojević, Lidija Rupnik, Milena Sket, Jelica Vazzaz 513.96 510.21 4 286.34

All-around A total of 32 woman gymnasts were individually ranked for the all-around competition. With the context of both the previous World Championships which were the first with a women's segment to the competition as well as the interceding Olympic Games, the outcome and composition of the women's all-around podium at these championships was significant. Reportedly, cheating occurred at the first 1934 women's installment of these games which, when undone, allowed the Czechoslovak team and their foremost star Vlasta Děkanová to be the first-place finishers, as a team and individual, respectively. Going into the 1936 Olympics, the Czechoslovaks and Děkanová were the favorites, but had to take 2nd place behind the home-ground advantaged German team (who did not compete at the 1934 Worlds), and the top three scoring individuals were all German. These 1938 Worlds were hosted in Prague, Czechoslovakia, and this time all three spots on the all-around podium were occupied by individuals from the Czechoslovak team. Děkanová (a Czech) successfully defended her first-place finish from the previous worlds, Zdeňka Veřmiřovská (a Moravian) won silver, and Matylda Pálfyová (a Slovak) won bronze. The three regions from which each hailed within the former Czechoslovakia were the 3 largest and most significant regions of that nation, so the fullest representation possible of geographical diversity within that country was made manifest on this all-around podium.

Rank Nation Gymnast Gymnastics Events Athletics Events Individual Grand Totals † †† Flying Rings Gymnastics Events Totals 60 meters Discus Athletics Events Totals Individual Grand Total Vlasta Děkanová 9.65 14.85 9.55 14.9 14.76 63.66 10 10 20 83.66 Zdeňka Veřmiřovská 9.4 14.1 9.9 14.55 14.76 62.71 10 10 20 82.71 Matylda Pálfyová 7.95 14.75 9.95 14.7 14.83 62.18 10 9.8 19.8 81.98 4 Janina Skirlińska 8.15 14.7 9.65 14.4 13.4 60.3 10 10 20 80.3 5 Marie Skálová 7.35 14.7 9.2 14.25 14.6 60.1 10 10 20 80.1 6 Anna Nezerpová 7.95 14.5 9.25 14.15 14.73 60.58 10 8.3 18.3 78.88 7 Lidija Rupnik 8.6 13.75 8.65 13.4 14.46 58.86 10 10 20 78.86 8 Ančka Hafner 9.25 14.7 8.75 14.2 14.5 61.4 10 7.3 17.3 78.7 9 Marie Hendrychová 8.5 14.3 9.45 14.35 14.43 61.03 8 8.8 16.8 77.83 10 Božena Dobešová 8.8 14.8 9.7 11.6 14.66 59.56 9 8.4 17.4 76.96 12 Milena Sket 75.21 13 Ema Kovačić 74.13 15 Jelica Vazzaz 73.16 17 Marta Pustišek 72.15 21 Marta Podpac 70.38 22 Dušica Radivojević 69.96 † Compulsory Uneven Bars †† Optional Uneven Bars

Vault

Medal Country Gymnast Score (tie) Matylda Pálfyová 14.83 (tie) Marta Majowska 14.83 (tie) Božena Dobešová 14.76 (tie) Vlasta Děkanová 14.76 (tie) Milena Sket 14.76

Compulsory Uneven Bars

Medal Country Gymnast Score Vlasta Děkanová 9.65 Zdeňka Veřmiřovská 9.40 Ančka Hafner 9.25

Optional Uneven Bars

Medal Country Gymnast Score (tie) Vlasta Děkanová 14.85 (tie) Vlasta Foltová 14.80 (tie) Božena Dobešová 14.80

Balance Beam

Medal Country Gymnast Score Vlasta Děkanová 14.90 Milena Sket 14.76 Vlasta Foltová 14.75

Flying Rings

Medal Country Gymnast Score Matylda Pálfyová 9.95 Zdeňka Veřmiřovská 9.90 (tie) Vlasta Foltová 9.80 (tie) Wiesława Noskiewicz 9.80

60 meters

Medal Country Gymnast Time (seconds) Ema Kovačić 8.30 Vlasta Děkanová 8.40 Matylda Pálfyová 9.80

Discus

Medal Country Gymnast Distance (meters) Milena Sket 30.23 Vlasta Děkanová 29.80 Marie Skálová 28.15

References

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