Mr Prihoda represented Australia at the Cortina d’Ampezzo 1956 Winter Olympic Games where he competed in alpine skiing.

Australia sent a Team of ten athletes to Italy with Frank finishing 54th in the Slalom and 80th in the Giant Slalom.

Frank migrated to Australia in 1950 after fleeing communist Czechoslovakia, along with his sister Sasha, herself a Czech Winter Olympian, and her husband Karel Nekvapil.

Frank and Karel made their daring escape from Czechoslovakia on skis, while Sasha absconded from the returning Czech Winter Olympic Team shortly after the 1948 Olympic Games in St Moritz.

AOC President Ian Chesterman paid tribute to Frank’s pioneering role in Australian winter sport.

“Frank was a much-loved figure in Australian winter sport. He was a trailblazer.

“I had the great pleasure of catching up with Frank for his birthday this year and he was immensely proud of the progress winter sport has made in Australia over the years.

“He maintained a great love of winter sports and the Olympic movement throughout his life and he was very much engaged with the efforts of our current athletes.

“Frank came to this country as a young man at a turbulent time in his country of birth and we are so grateful that he made Australia his home. He had a remarkable life but was very humble about his achievements.

“He will be very much missed by the entire winter community”, Mr Chesterman said.

After initially working in Melbourne and then Mt Buller as a lift operator and ski instructor, Frank eventually settled in Thredbo, NSW where he ran a souvenir shop and later volunteered at the local museum.

Read: Australia's oldest living Olympian Frank Prihoda turns 100

His sister Sasha had already established herself in Thredbo, building one of the first ski lodges in the township, with her husband Karel. Frank retired from all skiing aged 90.

His Olympic achievements are the most cherished of memories. He recorded these thoughts ahead of his 99th birthday.

“It was a big thing, it meant a lot to me. I was very proud and humbled that after just five years, I was able to walk under the flag, representing Australia.

“Because of that, all I wanted was to do my best for my adoptive country.

“With hindsight, I refer to the Olympic Games as hard work and it was made harder due to the conditions. There was very little snow, so the terrain was very uneven.

“In the Giant Slalom I was quite nervous and got into the first gate, then had a fall.

“I did better in the Slalom, but I remember there wasn’t much snow. There were no snow-makers then, so they called the Fire Brigade who sprayed the whole slope with water which just created a huge, continuous ice rink down the slope.

“As a result, most of the skiers missed the gates because they slid out and couldn’t correct their course.

“I did my best, but lo and behold, I started sliding out as well, and in those days, the poles were not like they are today, they were tree saplings firmly embedded into the ground, so I grabbed the inside pole and managed to get through the gate,” Frank explained.

In 2020, Frank was awarded the Snow Australia Medal to honour his contribution to snow sports in Australia. He was further honoured that year when a ski run at Thredbo was named in his honour.

“Frank’s Face” sits between two other features – a ski run named after his sister Sasha and T-Bar named after his brother-in-law Karel.