Los Angeles 1932
It was 1932 and the Czechoslovak heavyweight lifter Jiří Skobla was preparing for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The bronze medal holder from the Olympics in Amsterdam was a hot Czechoslovak favourite for the Games. However, his chances of success at the Olympics were almost thwarted by the economic crisis and by the government’s decision to not give financial support to Czechoslovak athletes to participate at the Olympics. At that time, Jiří Skobla was working for the Security Guard, and his fellow officers did not want to come to terms with his absence from the Olympics. Thanks to a collection they organised, Jiří Skobla eventually went to America, winning the most valuable medal for his country in Los Angeles. František Udržal, Czechoslovak Prime Minister at the time, awarded the golden athlete a plaque which was produced by Karel Ebner, a renowned Prague goldsmith and restorer.
This significant master goldsmith became famous, for example, for making a golden mayoral chain in 1897, for the production of which he also used Bohemian garnets. In addition, in October 1929 he was charged with cleaning the Czech crown jewels, and in 1935 he created a rector’s chain for Masaryk University which was handed over to the rectors by President T. G. Masaryk himself.
For Jiří Skobla, the state award made by a prominent goldsmith and decorated with Bohemian garnets at least partially made up for the initial reluctance to support his hopes of success at the Olympics, becoming a kind of satisfaction for the famous athlete and his enthusiastic fans.
Jiří Skobla and the plaque awarded to him by Prime Minister František Udržal.
The Olympic stadium and the gold medal from the Olympic Games held in Los Angeles in 1932.
Mayoral chain decorated with Bohemian garnets made in 1897 by goldsmith Karel Ebner.