October 23, 1968: The Silent Protest of Věra Čáslavská

October 23, 1968: As Tommie Smith and John Carlos proved a few days earlier, at the Olympic Games in Mexico City, Věra Čáslavská proved that actions, or even the smallest of gestures, can speak louder than words.

Věra Čáslavská was born on May 3, 1942, in Nazi-occupied Prague, in what is now the Czech Republic. The gymnast won 3 Gold Medals at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, and 4 more at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, in each case winning the all-around individual title.

The 1968 Olympics were less than 2 months after the Soviet Union crushed the Prague Spring in her homeland. To make matters worse, dodgy judging cost her an additional Gold Medal. So, during the presentation for her all-around Gold, as her National Anthem was played, she bowed her head in protest.

She was prohibited from traveling abroad upon her return, and only with the Velvet Revolution of 1989 was her reputation officially restored. She went into coaching, married a fellow Olympic Medalist, had 2 children, and died of cancer on August 30, 2016, at age 74.

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October 23, 1968 was a Wednesday. Baseball season ended 13 days earlier, when the Detroit Tigers beat the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 7 of the World Series. Football was in midweek. There were 5 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 114-112 at the Milwaukee Exposition and Convention Center Arena, a.k.a. The MECCA (now the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena).

* The Boston Celtics beat the Cincinnati Royals, 108-101 at the Boston Garden. Celtics player-coach bill Russell, in his last season, scored just 10 points, but grabbed 30 rebounds.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Chicago Bulls, 106-91 at the Alexander Memorial Coliseum (now the McCasmish Pavilion) in Atlanta.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 117-110 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit. Dave Bing scored 39 points for the Pistons, and Eddie Miles had 28. For the Lakers, Elgin Baylor scored 31, while Wilt Chamberlain scored 29 and had 21 rebounds.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the San Diego Rockets, 118-117 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

There was 1 game in the American Basketball Association: The Kentucky Colonels beat the Indiana Pacers, 112-108 at the Indiana State Fair Coliseum (now the Corteva Coliseum) in Indianapolis.

There were 4 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Oakland Seals, 6-1 at the new Madison Square Garden.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the St. Louis Blues, 6-4 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 8-5 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Los Angeles Kings, 5-2 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the Boston Bruins, the Detroit Red Wings, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Minnesota North Stars were not scheduled.