“It’s at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys…..”
The struggle was evident on his face, as the marathon finally entered the Olympic Stadium and it was just one roar arising from the crowd, “Zatopek!, Zatopek!, Zatopek!”. His persistence and diligence finally overcame the pain and agony, completing the greatest distance running performance in an Olympic. He had achieved the unthinkable treble. Autographs were signed, hands shaken and history was written.
Known as ‘The Engine’, ‘Czech Locomotive’ or the ‘Beast of Prague’, this six foot tall, lanky athlete was never short of energy and endurance. Emil Zatopek’s greatest triumph in 1952, made him the first and so far the only athlete to win 5000m, 10000m and the Marathon in the same Olympics.
His style of running wasn’t appealing or eye-catching. Legendary sports columnist Red Smith once wrote that he ran “like a man with a noose around his neck”. Once when questioned about his style, Zatopek chuckled and responded, “I shall learn to have a better style once they start judging races according to their beauty”
Emil Zatopek was born on 19th September 1922 in Koprivnice, Czechoslovakia and at the age of 16, he started working at Bata shoe factory in Zlin. Once the factory sports coach pointed at four boys including young Zatopek and ordered them to run. Initially he had objected about his physical ability but later it was proved that he was perfectly fine. He finished second in the race, a position of distaste as the desire to win was instilled upon Zatopek’s mind. Later he joined the local athletic club for training and during his free time he read about the Finnish legend Paavo Nurmi who became his role model. Zatopek’s engine wasn’t a gift but a system nurtured by himself through various methods of training such as running in severe weather conditions using heavy army boots as opposed to special running shoes, forcing his body to absorb immense stress.
In 1944, Emil Zatopek broke Czechoslovak records for 2000m, 3000m and 5000m. He entered 1948 games in London for the first time where he won the 10,000m. In the course of the race, ‘The engine’ had lapped all but two on the field, maintaining a 45-second lead ahead of the silver medalist, the Algerian-born Frenchman Alain Mimoun. However Zatopek was forced to settle for silver in the 5000m event after falling 0.2 seconds behind Gaston Reiff of Belgium.
On 11th June 1949, he broke the 10,000m world record, which was held by Viljo Heino for 5 years. Heino soon responded three months later but it was again broken by Zatopek in October 1949 with a time of 29:21.2. He later went on to better his own record three times over the next four seasons where it stood at 28:54.2 in 1954.
Preparing for the next big event in Helsinki, Emil Zatopek won both 5000m and 10,000m at the European Championships in 1950. In the run up to the games in 1952, expectations on this ‘locomotive’ was sky high as he was enjoying successive winning streaks. Entering the 1952 games, Zatopek’s dominance was quite obvious that he had only suffered a solitary loss in his past 96 endeavours.
At 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Zatopek won gold in both 5000m and 10,000m, breaking Olympic records of each event. During the 5000m event, Zatopek accelerated his way from fourth place to win the race in the last lap. It was a dream come true which crushed Zatopek four years earlier. Alain Mimoun won the silver. During the 10,000m event, Zatopek was expected to defend his title from London 1948. Mimoun, his rival who was forced to settle for silver in London too was determined to turn the tables this time. Despite Mimoun’s courageous ventures to remain on par with Zatopek, he was yet again forced to accept silver behind the uncompromising Czech.
The day came in 27th July 1952 when Emil Zatopek decided to compete in the marathon for the first time in his career. He raced alongside Jim Peters, the world record holder at the time. Zatopek kept advancing regardless of the sphere of unfamiliar surroundings and opponents in a marathon. When he entered the stadium to complete the ultimate five miles, a resounding roar from nearly 80,000 spectators intoned his name. His every stride was cheered as the profound runner, reached the finish line, two minutes ahead of the closest competitor Reinaldo Gorno of Argentina. The ‘Beast of Prague’ had done the unthinkable treble by not only winning all three events, but also shattering the existing Olympic records of each event. Zatopek was greeted by everyone as he was on a lap of honour on the shoulders of the Jamaican 4x400m relay team. Later Zatopek commented “If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon.”
In 1954, Zatopek won gold in 10,000m in the European Championships. In the same year he became the first person to break the 29-minute barrier in 10,000m. After suffering injuries, he became unable to defend his marathon crown in 1956. An year later, in 1957 Emil Zatopek retired from competition.
Emil Zatopek’s training methods gave the birth to concepts such as ‘Interval training’ and ‘Hypoventilation training’, which were initially overlooked by acclaimed coaches. But however the powerhouse of endurance believed that the tough sessions prepared him mentally and offered him tremendous relief during the race. Although disregarded at the beginning, his methodologies were later adopted by athletes across various disciplines.
Zatopek died on 22nd November 2000 and was posthumously awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal, which is awarded for athletes who have unveiled the spirit of sportsmanship. Emil Zatopek had always insisted that “Great is the victory, but the friendship of all is greater” In 2012, he along with 11 other athletes were inducted to the inaugural IAAF Hall of Fame while in February 2013, the Runner’s World Magazine selected him as the greatest runner of all time.
Whether you name him ‘The Czech Express’, ‘The Engine’, ‘The Locomotive’ or the ‘The Beast of Prague’, the Czechoslovakian stalwart Emil Zatopek will always be remembered as one of the greatest athletes ever to grace the world stage.
