Jiřina Valenta
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| Birth name | Jiřina Bořilova | ||||||||||||||||
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October 31, 1940 Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia | ||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Jiřina Valenta (born Jiřina Bořilova; October 31, 1940) is a retired Czechoslovak-American wildwater and slalom canoeist who competed from the early 1960s to the early 1970s with then-husband Josef Šedivec under the last name Šedivcová. She won two silver medals at the 1965 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships in Spittal, earning them in the mixed C-2 event and the mixed C-2 team event. She also won a silver medal in the individual C-2 Downriver event and a gold medal in the C-2 team mixed Downriver event at the 1965 Wildwater Canoeing World Championships, also in Spittal.
Jiřina's career began in Czechoslovakia and ended in the United States. She is credited with being the first woman to steer a whitewater canoe in slalom competitions as part of a two-person mixed-gender team. Until that time, popular wisdom/the generally accepted wisdom within the community among the coaches and others alike was that women, by nature of their gender, were incapable of steering and directing a boat on through gates set up over whitewater.
Early years
Valenta was the eldest of three children. She was extremely active in sports, including track and field and swimming. She also led her elementary school choir and excelled at her studies.
During childhood, she cared for her family while her father was ill and her mother was sent to work in a factory by the occupying Soviets. Previously, her parents had managed a private grocery store that was confiscated by the socialist political presence.
On NYE 1961, she met her soon-to-be first husband, Josef Šedivec, on a ski slope. He invited her to begin training with him and eventually they formed a C-2 mixed team for a club in Prague.
In the summer of 1962, they began competing. They first journeyed to Austria to do some sightseeing and run several of the country's rivers. As unknowns, they participated in an international slalom race on the Drava River outside of Spittal while there.
With the international whitewater community looking on, Jiřina and Josef defeated the standing C-2 mixed world champions, from East Germany. Their surprise victory resonated throughout the entire community and tales of it appeared in local sports magazines.
Upon their return home, they were made members of the Czechoslovak national whitewater team. During the period from 1962-1964, they continued winning domestic downriver and slalom events.
On November 23, 1963, the two married and began racing under the names Šedivcová-Šedivec. Their grueling practices of five hours in total split between mornings and afternoons six days a week, regardless of the season, included time in the waters of the Vltava, even in the dead of winter with the river partially frozen over.
In August 1969, Jiřina and Josef left Czechoslovakia given the Russian invasion and occupation. After spending six months in Eindhoven, Netherlands, they emigrated to California, United States.
Competitions
They represented then Czechoslovakia at the 1965 ICF world championship in Spittal and won gold in the C-2 mixed, silver in the individual C-2 mixed slalom, and silver in the individual downriver competitions.
Later Years
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