– The canoeist who sacrificed glory for freedom
The sportsman, who fled communist Czechoslovakia in 1953 to settle in Geneva, gave his last paddle at 94 years old. His son talks regarding his romantic life.
Emeritus member of the Canoe Club Geneva, Miloslav (known as Milo) Duffek went paddling on the rivers of the Ether, at the age of 94, peacefully, as discreetly as when he arrived in Switzerland in 1953. A stowaway hidden in the coach that brought back the Swiss delegation from the world championships in Merano, he had scuttled his chances of a medal to encourage his breakaway. Gate No 14 failed, that of freedom. Son of a bourgeois, reputed to be a rebel, the young Czech sportsman fled the communist regime in Prague and its shackles.