He won his first international medal at the 1972 European Athletics Indoor Championships: following on from Skobla's bronze medal in 1966, Brabec himself took the bronze medal behind Hartmut Briesenick of East Germany and Poland's Władysław Komar. Nationally, Miroslav Janoušek took the indoor title, but Brabec improved his meet record at the outdoor championships with a throw of . He reached his first Olympic final later that year, coming tenth overall. A new national rival – Jaromír Vlk – finished one place ahead of him.