Jan Lidral

Czechoslovak sportsman Jan Lidral was a good all-round athlete who played football and tennis, in addition to being a decent high jumper. When he worked, Lidral would also cycle more than 50 km each day, but his main passion was with ice hockey. He learned to play on the large frozen Bezdrev pond before joining SK Zliv in the late 1940s. He later played with Budějovice and ATK Praha, winning the Czechoslovak hockey league title with the former in 1951.

During his career Lidral played in 20 matches for the Czechoslovak national team. At the 1952 Oslo Olympics the team finished fourth, with the tournament also serving as the World and European Championships, resulting in Czechoslovakia winning silver at the latter. Three years later he won bronze at the 1955 World Ice Hockey Championships.

Lidral’s career was plagued with poor discipline and he later suffered from alcohol addiction. The former led to an early end of his playing career, with his alcoholism exacerbating his poor health. He fell asleep outside on a cold January day, caught pneumonia, and died the next day.