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Alpine Prihod Death, Obituary – Alpine skier Frank Prihoda, who was Australia’s oldest Olympian and passed away overnight at the age of 101, is being remembered with sadness by Snow Australia, which is very saddened by his departure. Frank was a member of the Australian Alpine Skiing Team that competed at the Olympic Winter Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo in 1956. He has been a significant contributor to the growth of the winter community in Victoria. Frank began skiing when he was eight years old. He was born in 1921 in what is now the Czech Republic but was then Czechoslovakia. Frank came in Melbourne in February of 1950, having fled his home country in 1949 along with his brother-in-law.
Prior to this, Frank had spent his whole life in Australia. Soon after he arrived, he started going to Mt. Buller, which is located in Victoria, to ski on the weekends. In a short amount of time, he was able to carve out a name for himself by engaging in some informal tutoring and competing in the Victorian, New South Wales, and national ski championships. After this, he was chosen to represent Australia at the Olympic Winter Games in 1956.
During Australia’s second appearance in Alpine skiing at the Olympic Winter Games, which took place in Cortina d’Ampezzo in 1956, Frank finished the Slalom in 54th place and the Giant Slalom in 80th place. Before making the decision to leave her homeland in 1948, his sister Sasha Nekvapil had already attained the status of an Olympian. She competed in the Olympic Winter Games held in St. Moritz, Switzerland, on behalf of Czechoslovakia. She did not go back home with the squad and eventually found her way to Australia to join her brother there.
After the Games, Prihoda moved on to a career in administration and organization with the Victorian Ski Association. He first became the chair of the association’s Race Committee, and then he moved on to become the President of the organization. In 1972, he made the move to Thredbo, and he hasn’t looked back since. His family established the first ski lodge business in Thredbo, and for the better part of 27 years, Frank managed a shop in which visitors could purchase mementos and other presents.
He was also very involved in the community, becoming a founding member of the Thredbo Historical Society and carrying the Olympic Torch in the year 2000, when he was responsible for lighting the cauldron on the Village Green as the torch made its way towards Sydney. Prihoda did not quit skiing until he was 90 years old, even though he did not retire until the latter half of 2001. Frank was honored with the Snow Australia Medal during the celebration of his 100th birthday that took place in Thredbo.
