Ivana Zelníčková was born on February 20, 1949, in the Moravian city of Zlín (known between 1949 and 1990 as Gottwaldov), Czechoslovakia, the daughter of Miloš Zelníček (1927–1990) and Marie Zelníčková (née Francová). Her father was an electrical engineer and her mother worked as a telephone operator. Her father encouraged her skiing talent, a practice she began at age four. After developing skills as a skier, she joined the junior national ski team, which offered her opportunities to travel beyond the Soviet-era communist boundaries of what was then the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. She attended Charles University in Prague and earned a master's degree in physical education in 1972.