Emil Zatopek is one of those very rare athletes likely to stand the test of time and live on in people’s hearts and minds throughout the centuries. Not merely for his glorious achievements in the running world will he be remembered – of which there are many – but also and especially for his kind, generous and self-giving nature. Zatopek not only won gold medals on the track and on the road, he also won over the hearts of millions of sports fans all over the world.
In his athletic career, which lasted fom 1946 until 1956, Zatopek set eighteen world records and won five Olympic medals. He became the only man in history to hold eight world records at the same time. He held the world record for every distance between 5,000 metres and 30,000 metres. He was the first to break 29 minutes for the 10,000 metres and the first to run 20 kilometres under the hour. Between the years of 1948 and 1954 he won every single 10,000 metres race he entered – an incredible victory streak of 38 wins. But Zatopek is remembered most for his unprecedented sweep at the Helsinki Olympics of 1952, where he became the first and, we may safely assume, the only athlete ever to win a gold medal in all three long distance running races: the 5,000 metres, 10,000 metres and the marathon. Because of these supreme achievements Zatopek is considered by many to be the greatest runner of all times.
Yet Zatopek was not only a great runner, he also was a great innovator. He became one of the first and most certainly the most succesful runner who started using the now widely accepted idea of interval training. When asked for the reason why he would run between 20 and 40 laps around the track on a daily basis, his simple comment was “You must be fast enough – you must have endurance. So you run fast for speed and repeat it many times for endurance.” His profound insight has today become the foundation for any serious athlete’s training program.
Yet above his athletic achievements and greatness as a runner shines his unique, amiable and inimitable personality. Emil Zatopek was indeed loved by all who knew him. He summed up his own life-philosophy in a single, lofty utterance: “Great is the victory, but the friendship of all is greater.” Two anecdotes from his life reveal what a magnanimous and gentle person he was at heart.
In 1966 multi-world-record holder and Australian distance runner Ron Clarke visited Zatopek in Prague, at the height of Clarke’s career. Although Clarke held world records at various distances he had never won a gold medal at the Olympics, the dream of any great runner. When Zatopek dropped him off at the airport at the end of their stay he handed him a small package and said, “Look after this; you deserve it.” When he was alone in the airplane Clarke opened the package and received the surprise of his life! For in front of his eyes was Zatopek’s own gold medal from the Helsinki Olympics 10,000 metre race with an inscription to Clarke.
Zatopek’s main rival in the running world was the Frenchman Alain Mimoun. Although Mimoun was a superb runner he was fated to be an eternal second, always finishing behind Zatopek in almost every race they entered together. Yet in the marathon of the 1956 Melbourne Olympics for the first time of his life Mimoun beat Zatopek in an Olympic race and won the gold medal. Mimoun waited for Zatopek at the finish line, who came in a tired sixth and then asked him, “Emil, why don’t you congratulate me? I have won! I am the Olympic champion!” Mimoun recalls Zatopek’s reaction from memory: “Emil turned and looked at me as if he were waking from a dream. Then he snapped to attention. Emil took off his cap — that white painting cap he wore so much — and he saluted me. Then he embraced me.” When telling the story Mimoun is still overhelmed with emotion. “Oh, for me,” he said, “that was better than the medal.”
Spiritual teacher and running enthousiast Sri Chinmoy has had the good fortune to meet with the immortal Czech runner. He even wrote a book about Zatopek, entitled Emil Zatopek: Earth's Tearing Cry And Heaven's Beaming Smile. Sri Chinmoy concludes his book by a deep and spiritual comment on this champion of champions:
“Zatopek's greatness has surprised mankind. His goodness has illumined mankind. His fullness has elevated mankind.”
