Slovakia’s oldest Olympic champion Ján Zachara dies at 96
by Zdenka Letenayova
Ján Zachara (left) in action. [Photo: Zdenka Letenayova]
Zachara was born on August 8th, 1928 in what was then Czechoslovakia. He grew up in the village of Kubra close to Trenčín, which today is part of the town. He was keen on sport from childhood and like the majority of boys he first played football. At the age of 15, he visited a gymnasium in Trenčín which was was part of the Sokol movement. Although he was rather skinny, coach Martin Podhradský thought that the young boy was diligent enough to withstand the demands of the tough and physically demanding sport of boxing.
The coach’s prediction came true. Zachara, by now a member of the boxing club Slovena Trenčín, won the Slovak flyweight championship in 1946.
Zachara’s boxing development was accelerated by a transfer to Baťovany, what is today Partizánske, where he learned much from Július Torma, who was himself destined to win Olympic gold at the London 1948 Games. Unlike his mentor, Zachara did not qualify for London but made up for the disappointment in Helsinki.
When Zachara travelled to Finland for the Games, he was already a member of the army club ATK Praha, which he had joined in 1950. With Torma he was among eleven Slovaks who was chosen for the Czechoslovak Olympic team.
The featherweight division (up to 57kg) proved to be closely fought with many very tight contests. More than a third of the matches ended in a split decision in which only one vote decided the victory or a loss. Three times Ján Zachar won through in this way.
In the first two rounds he clearly defeated his opponents by a 3:0 margin. His quarter-final and semi-final matches were tight but victorious. In the gold medal match, he faced the 20-year-old Italian Sergio Caprari who was in perfect physical condition. Zachara later recalled that when Caprari hit him it was like a block of flats had fallen on him. But Zachara was not weak, and he bravely hit back at his opponent. At that time the Italian boxer probably felt the same way about the blows he received.
In the finely balanced final duel Zachara proved to be more resistant and persistent than his opponent. He stepped onto the podium as the worthy winner. He was only the second Slovak boxer after Torma to win Olympic gold.
Immediately after the Olympic Games, Caprari turned professional, where he won 54 out of 58 fights, 20 by knock-out.
Zachara returned to Czechoslovakia and rushed to his home to share his experience and the joy of the Olympic victory with the citizens of Kubra.
Zachara was promoted in his army career and continued to box. He made his second Olympic appearance in 1956 but lost in the quarter final.
He remained a revered figure in his homeland and in 1996 was decorated with the Olympic Order.
He died in his home village on January 2, 2025.
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