Frank Prihoda, who escaped communism on skis, was Australia’s oldest Olympian

FRANTISEK (FRANK) PRIHODA: July 8, 1921 – November 10, 2022.

Frantisek (Frank) Prihoda was born on July 8, 1921 in Prague, Czechoslovakia, a companion to his sister Sasha, who was several years older. His skiing life was extraordinary, first as a boy in the Krkonose Mountains (Giant Mountains) of his former homeland, then known as Czechoslovakia, where he continued to ski even under the Nazi and Communist regimes. Then, in 1949, he made an amazing escape from the communists’ clutches on cross-country skis with his brother-in-law Karel Nekvapil and Tony Sponar, to St Anton.

Skier Frank Prihoda was Australia’s oldest Olympian.Credit:

It was towards the end of 1948 when the four Czechs escaped the imminent totalitarian grasp of communism that was enveloping their homeland. First Sponar, then Prihoda, Nekvapil and Sasha made their way separately to St Anton am Arlberg in the Tyrolean Alps of Austria.

Sponar, the Czech national ski champion, fled Prague just after Christmas in 1948 in a World War II jeep. Nekvapil and Frank Prihoda escaped on cross-country skis, gliding silently across a frozen lake on the Czech-Austrian border. And in the winter of 1949, Sasha slipped off a train at the Swiss station of Zurich-Enge, unbeknown to her team members of the communist Czechoslovakian Ski Federation, who were returning from a race meeting in Grindelwald to Prague. Sasha had always planned to join her brother, husband Karel Nekvapil and Tony Sponar in St Anton in the Arlberg.

To make ends meet, they used the jeep as the engine power for the first ski lift in the neighbouring Arlberg ski village of St Christoph am Arlberg, home of the Bundersportheim training centre for the Austrian Ski Federation.

The yet-to-become Australian Czechs carried Austrian soldiers, who were amputees, up the ski lift that was then situated in the postwar French Occupied Zone. They operated the ski lift until the Easter of 1949, when the Nekvapils travelled to Belgium with Prihoda. Sponar went to Innsbruck to marry his English fiancée, Lizzie, and they all applied to emigrate to Australia.

In 1950, Prihoda settled in Melbourne and set up a furniture business. At 35 years of age, he proudly represented Australia in ski racing at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy, skiing in the Combined and Slalom ski championship events.

Australia’s 1956 Olympic Team at Zuers: Frank Prihoda, a business owner from Melbourne, is second from right. Credit: AP

He was an active member of the Victorian Ski Association and organised races in Mount Buller, becoming chairman in 1958. In 1959, the Nekvapils established one of the first commercial lodges in Thredbo, “Sasha’s Lodge”, which Prihoda would frequent.

Frank Prihoda competing in alpine skiing in the 1956 Winter Olympics.Credit:

Twenty-seven years later, Prihoda sold his furniture business and, in 1974, moved to Thredbo and opened Frank’s Gifts, a souvenir shop that he ran until his retirement in 2001. He continued to pursue his Aussie skiing life once settled in Thredbo.

Frank Prihoda at the 1956 Olympics in ItalyCredit: unknown

Prihoda never missed an opportunity to be involved in the Thredbo community and was an inaugural member of the Thredbo Alpine Museum (formerly known as the Thredbo Historical Society), serving as its vice president. In 2000, his contribution to sport was recognised when he was asked to carry the Olympic Torch in Thredbo, lighting the cauldron on the Village Green.

In recognition of his services to the conservation and preservation of Australia’s 163-year-old history of snow sports, Prihoda was appointed a life member of the Thredbo Alpine Museum.

Right up until his death he showed great interest in the objectives of the museum, sharing his wisdom with colleagues. Prihoda was treasurer of the Thredbo Chamber of Commerce and an eager participant in carnival week too.

Before moving to Melbourne in late 2021, Prihoda was Thredbo’s oldest resident – and the nation’s oldest living Olympian. In his centenary year, he was awarded the Gratias Agit by the Czech Republic embassy’s head of mission, Tomas Dub, for the promotion of the good name of the Czech Republic abroad, which is granted to prominent persons who develop activities in non-governmental fields.

Long-time Thredbo resident and former Winter Olympian Frank Prihoda at the Thredbo Museum.Credit: Andrew Meares

Kosciuszko Thredbo Pty Ltd recognised Prihoda’s significant contribution to Thredbo’s cultural and historical life and his support to the community, given with wisdom, humour and good will. The company organised Prihoda’s 100th birthday celebration. That night, the master of ceremonies – two-time Winter Olympian Jono Brauer – and Thredbo general manager Stuart Diver spoke of the immense contribution Prihoda had made to the fabric of the Thredbo community, and in his honour proclaimed the ski-run “Frank’s Face”. Its position on the west side of “Karels”, alongside “Sasha’s Schuss”, places the family together at a high altitude, up on Crackenback.

Snow Australia director, winter Olympian and fellow Thredbo local Kim Clifford also presented the Snow Australia Medal to Prihoda, which recognises the achievements and careers of past and retiring athletes who have represented Australia at the highest level of snow sport competition.

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