“In 1972—I was nine at the time, I remember it clearly—we were sitting around the television watching our mother compete. Of course, we were also constantly following the news; there was a lot of fear because of the hostages in Munich. What I remember even more than watching my mother on TV was how, as children, we would always carry her discus back during training. She would throw it and then wouldn’t feel like going to get it—that was our job, us kids—and then we would roll the discus back to her along the ground. I was very good at that.”
"They gave her a hat, shoes and coat when she got off the train. There were only women everywhere, cleaning the tracks and wheels of ice, because the men were either closed or at other jobs. That's etched in her memory, the cruelty of forced labor."
"He said he noticed her talent right away. He played the song 'On the Beautiful Blue Danube' during their practice sessions so she would have good rhythm and good footwork. Everyone in the stadium knew when she was practicing because that song was played over and over and people around her didn't like it."
Merja Connolly-Freund was born on April 23, 1963 in Tampere, Finland. She is the daughter of Czechoslovak Olympic athlete Olga Connolly, born Fikotová, and American athlete and Olympian Harold Connolly. The parents met during the XVI Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, and despite the Iron Curtain, they were granted permission to marry and Olga moved to the USA. Merja grew up with her parents and siblings in California. Under the influence of her parents, she took up sports and while studying at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), she began playing basketball and volleyball at the top level. She eventually chose volleyball and won gold with the varsity team at the 1984 national volleyball championships. She was also on the B team at the Los Angeles Olympics that same year. She played professionally in the Italian league. After moving back to the US and starting a family, she became a high school coach. In 2006, she accompanied her mother, Olga Connolly, to a gathering of Czechoslovak Olympic athletes in Prague for the 50th anniversary of the Melbourne Olympics. In 2024, she was living in Los Angeles with her husband.
