ATHLETE

Emil Zátopek

1922 - 2000

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Emil Zátopek (Czech pronunciation: [ˈɛmɪl ˈzaːtopɛk] ; 19 September 1922 – 21 November 2000) was a Czech long-distance runner best known for winning three gold medals at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He won gold in the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres runs, but his final medal came when he decided at the last minute to compete in the first marathon of his life. He was nicknamed the "Czech Locomotive". In 1954, Zátopek was the first runner to break the 29-minute barrier in the 10,000 metres. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in 55 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 54 in 2024). Emil Zátopek is the most popular athlete (up from 4th in 2024), the 35th most popular biography from Czechia (up from 40th in 2019) and the most popular Czech Athlete.

Emil Zátopek is most famous for being the first athlete to win gold medals in the 5,000 and 10,000 meter races in the same Olympics.

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Among ATHLETES

Among athletes, Emil Zátopek ranks 1 out of 6,025. After him are Paavo Nurmi, Abebe Bikila, Jesse Owens, Sigfrid Edström, Florence Griffith Joyner, Spyridon Louis, Thomas Burke, Bob Beamon, John Flanagan, Ben Johnson, and Carl Lewis.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1922, Emil Zátopek ranks 13. Before him are Stan Lee, Hiroo Onoda, Norodom Sihanouk, Franjo Tuđman, Thomas Kuhn, and Boutros Boutros-Ghali. After him are Aage Bohr, Pierre Cardin, Ava Gardner, Erich Hartmann, Gérard Philipe, and Jack Kerouac. Among people deceased in 2000, Emil Zátopek ranks 8. Before him are Hedy Lamarr, Ingrid of Sweden, Willard Van Orman Quine, Władysław Szpilman, Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, and Habib Bourguiba. After him are Arkan, Victor Borge, Alec Guinness, Louis Néel, Roger Vadim, and Konrad Emil Bloch.

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In Czechia

Among people born in Czechia, Emil Zátopek ranks 35 out of 1,200. Before him are Jaroslav Hašek (1883), Joseph Schumpeter (1883), Albrecht von Wallenstein (1583), Arthur Seyss-Inquart (1892), Leoš Janáček (1854), and Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia (907). After him are Hans Kelsen (1881), Max Brod (1884), Ottokar II of Bohemia (1233), Gerty Cori (1896), Peter Grünberg (1939), and Jan Palach (1948).

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Among ATHLETES In Czechia

Among athletes born in Czechia, Emil Zátopek ranks 1. After him are Dana Zátopková (1922), Jan Železný (1966), Dominik Hašek (1965), František Čapek (1914), Ludvík Daněk (1937), Olga Fikotová (1932), František Pospíšil (1944), František Janda-Suk (1878), Gerhard Auer (1943), František Douda (1908), and Karel Mejta Sr (1928).

Czech born Athletes

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