Emil Zatopek

He died at the age of 78, in Prague, after he had been ill for a long time with pneumonia. His funeral was held at the Prague National Theatre.

Emil Zatopek was born in Koprivnice, Czechoslovakia in a modest family.

He started working at Bata, a shoe factory, in 1937. The factory sports coach persuaded him to take part in a race, in which he came second.

In 1944, he participated in the 2000, 3000 and 5000 meter races and he broke the Czechoslovak records in each of them.

He later joined the Czechoslovak Army at the end of the World War II and in 1947 he graduated from the Military Academy in Hranice.

In 1946, he was chosen to run for the Czechoslovak national team in the European Championships. He completed the 5000m race in the fifth position and thus broke his own Czechoslovak record.

In 1948, he first participated in the 10 km track race that was held in Budapest. Here, he was victorious and ended up setting a national record.

Later in 1948, he made his debut in an international competition, the 1948 Summer Olympics, which was held in London. He was the winner of the 10000 metre race and stood in the second position in the 50000 metre race.

In 1949, he broke the ‘Men's 10,000 metres world record’, twice at Ostrava, Czechoslovakia, on June 11 and October 22. He performed well during the next four seasons and improved his record.

In 1950, he was the winner of the 5000 metre race and the 10000 metre race at the European Championships. In August, he set ‘Men's 10,000 metres world record’ that was held in Turku, Finland.

In 1951, he participated in the ‘one hour run’, an international track event recognised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. He broke the record at the track races held in Prague and Star� Boleslav.

In 1998, he was honoured with the title of ‘White Lion’, one of Czech’s highest awards. The title was conferred to him by the then Czech President Vaclav Havel.

In 2000, he was posthumously awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal It’s a special decoration conferred by the International Olympic Committee.

In 2012, he was named one among twelve athletes who would be inducted into the IAAF Hall of Fame.