1938 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships

“Only one thing they were not that happy about. The Hungarians, who were an excellent team in Budapest and Berlin, and the Germans, who were 0.5% ahead of our team in Berlin, did not have their strong competitors here. Both teams were registered for the competition and withdrew only at the last minute. The Dutch team apologized on the eve of the competition and did not participate.”

Men

Team final

Medal	Country	Points
	Jan Gajdoš, Gustav Hrubý, Alois Hudec, Emanuel Löffler, Vratislav Petráček, Jan Sládek, Jindřich Tintěra	806.800
	Albert Bachmann, Walter Beck, Eugen Mack, Hans Negelin, Michael Reusch, Leo Schürmann, ?? Smid	791.833
	Kingdom of YugoslaviaFRAPOLLUXBELBUL All-around A total of 59 competitors were individually ranked in the all-around competition. Medal Country Gymnast Score Jan Gajdoš 138.06 Jan Sládek 137.466 Eugen Mack 136.40 4 Alois Hudec 136.333 5 Leo Schürmann 134.533 6 Gustav Hrubý 133.833 7 Walter Beck 132.60 8 Hans Negelin 131.366 9 Emanuel Löffler 131.333 10 Vratislav Petráček 129.833 11 Guglielmo Schmid 128.766 12 Lucien Masset 128.633 13 Albert Bachmann 127.533 14 Kingdom of Yugoslavia Floor exercise † = Although on page 65 of the FIG’s 125-Year Anniversary Publication, Hudec and Mack are listed as having won silver and bronze, respectively, on the Floor Exercise, two different contemporaneous reports of these World Championships show Hudec and Mack as having tied for silver, each with "18.56" or "18.5 & 2/3" points. Rings Medal Country Gymnast Score Alois Hudec 19.63 Michael Reusch 19.30 Vratislav Petráček 18.76 4 Emanuel Löffler 18.43 5 Edmund Kosman 18.33 6 Eugen Mack 18.30 7 Jan Gajdoš 18.26 7 Kingdom of YugoslaviaTCH Parallel bars Medal Country Gymnast Score Michael Reusch 19.56 Alois Hudec 19.53 Kingdom of YugoslaviaSUISUITCHFRASUISUISUI Horizontal bar Medal Country Gymnast Score Michael Reusch 19.76 Alois Hudec 19.70 Walter Beck 19.63 4 Eugen Mack 19.33 5 Kingdom of YugoslaviaSUIFRATCH Track and Field and Athletics component According to the official commemorative publication for the 10th Prague Sokol Slet in 1938, of which these World Championships were a feature, as well as to an article on Gymnastics-History.com, there was a Track and Field and Athletics component to the competition, as there had been in some previous World Championships and Olympic Games. In this edition of the World Championships, the track and field and athletics segment of the competition included 100 meter, High jump, and Shot put events. According to information given in this 10th Sokol Slet publication, the maximum possible individual all-around total was 150 points, of which the track and field and athletics component contributed a total of 30 points, with a maximum of 10 points each being awarded for the 100 meter, High Jump, and Shot Put events. Although there is no mention of there having been awarded medals solely for placements earned in the track and field segment of the competition, the ten highest-placing individuals in the Track and Field segment of the competition were: Placement Country Gymnast Score 1 Wiencenty Pietrzykowski 29.6 2 Gustav Hrubý 28.7 3 Jan Sládek 28.4 4 Maurice Benhaim 26.6 5 Edmund Kosman 26.2 6 Jan Gajdoš 26.1 7 Bernard Radajewski 25.8 7 Leo Schürmann 25.8 9 Kingdom of Yugoslavia Gymnastics apparatuses only The 1938 Sokol Slet commemorative publication also specifically articulates that, minus the track and field events, among the highest individual placers of the gymnastics-apparatus-only segment of the competition, the top 3 places were earned by: Alois Hudec of Czechoslovakia, with 114.633 points Eugen Mack of Switzerland, with 113.6 points Michael Reusch of Switzerland, with 112.266 points with Gajdoš, Petráček and Beck rounding out the top 6, in that order. Under all World Championships and Olympic Games editions of artistic gymnastics competition since World War II, there is no longer a track and field or athletics component to the competition. In these long and currently prevailing standards, then, in “pure gymnastics” terms, Alois Hudec could be considered one of the sport’s repeat World All-Around Champions, who are rare compared to single-time winners. Women All-around A total of 32 woman gymnasts were individually ranked for the all-around competition. With the context of both the previous World Championships which were the first with a women's segment to the competition as well as the interceding Olympic Games, the outcome and composition of the women's all-around podium at these championships was significant. Reportedly, cheating occurred at the first 1934 women's installment of these games which, when undone, allowed the Czechoslovak team and their foremost star Vlasta Děkanová to be the first-place finishers, as a team and individual, respectively. Going into the 1936 Olympics, the Czechoslovaks and Děkanová were the favorites, but had to take 2nd place behind the home-ground advantaged German team, and the top three scoring individuals were all German. These 1938 Worlds were hosted in Prague, Czechoslovakia, and this time all three spots on the all-around podium were occupied by individuals from the Czechoslovak team. Děkanová successfully defended her first-place finish from the previous worlds, Zdeňka Veřmiřovská won silver, and Matylda Pálfyová won bronze. The three regions from which each hailed within the former Czechoslovakia were the 3 largest and most significant regions of that nation, so the fullest representation possible of geographical diversity within that country was made manifest on this all-around podium. † Compulsory Uneven Bars †† Optional Uneven Bars Vault Medal Country Gymnast Score Matylda Pálfyová 14.83 Marta Majowska 14.83 Božena Dobešová 14.76 Vlasta Děkanová 14.76 Kingdom of Yugoslavia Compulsory Uneven Bars Medal Country Gymnast Score Vlasta Děkanová 9.65 Zdeňka Veřmiřovská 9.40 Kingdom of Yugoslavia Optional Uneven Bars Medal Country Gymnast Score Vlasta Děkanová 14.85 Vlasta Foltová 14.80 Božena Dobešová 14.80 Balance Beam Medal Country Gymnast Score Vlasta Děkanová 14.90 Kingdom of YugoslaviaTCH Flying Rings Medal Country Gymnast Score Matylda Pálfyová 9.95 Zdeňka Veřmiřovská 9.90 Vlasta Foltová 9.80 Wiesława Noskiewicz 9.80 60 meters Medal Country Gymnast Time Kingdom of YugoslaviaTCHTCH Discus Medal Country Gymnast Distance Kingdom of YugoslaviaTCHTCH