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Vera Caslavska, a seven-time Olympic gymnastics gold medallist who stood up against the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia, has died. She was 74. The Czech Olympic Committee said Wednesday that Caslavska died in Prague late Tuesday. Caslavska had cancer of the pancreas and underwent surgery last year, the committee previously said. She later had chemotherapy treatment.
Caslavska claimed her first Olympic medal — a silver — at the 1960 Rome Games. She won three Olympic golds in Tokyo in 1964 — in the vault, the individual all-round and the balance beam — to establish herself as a major force in her sport. Also, she received the U.N.'s Pierre de Coubertin Prize for promoting fair play in 1989 and was also awarded the Olympic Order.
