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Olga, along with her husband, also enjoyed a measure of celebrity. She was the mystery guest on an episode of the game show “To Tell the Truth” in 1958, and the couple appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” warmly introduced by Mr. Sullivan and serenaded by Louis Armstrong.
In 1968, she wrote a book, “The Rings of Destiny,” about her romance with Connolly. And in 1997, when the United States issued a series of postage stamps honoring women who had shaped American history, her image was chosen for a 10-cent stamp.
The marriage didn’t last, however. Separating after 16 years, the Connollys finalized a divorce in 1974. Olga never remarried, but in 1975 Harold married Pat Daniels-Winslow, a track coach and former Olympic 800-meter runner and pentathlete. Their son, Adam, became a nationally ranked hammer thrower. Harold Connolly died in 2010 at 79.
Olga Fikotova was born on Nov. 13, 1932, in Prague. Her father, Franticek Fikota, was a legionnaire in the Czech Army who became a personal guard of Tomas Masaryk (1850-1937), the first president of Czechoslovakia. As a girl, when visiting her father on the job, Olga would be told to stand erect when President Masaryk passed by on horseback.
After World War II, the family moved to the Czech village of Libis. Olga’s mother, Ludmila (Uhrova) Fikotova, helped support the family as a laborer in a chemical plant.
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