Sport and Games Atlas

How The Game Is Played
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme

Switch Atlas

Athlete

Emil Zatopek

Track and Field Disciplines

Emil Zatopek was a Czech long distance runner who lived from 1922 to 2000, born in Koprivnice, Czechoslovakia, nicknamed the Czech Locomotive for his distinctive running style. At the 1952 Helsinki Olympics he won gold in the 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters and marathon, the only person ever to win all three long distance events at a single Olympic Games, and in 1954 he became the first runner to break 29 minutes in the 10,000 meters. He set multiple world records over his career and is credited with popularizing interval training in distance running after the Second World War; in 2013 Runner's World named him the greatest runner of all time, and he was inducted into the IAAF Hall of Fame in 2012.

Facts
Birth Year
1922 2
Birth Date
1922-09-19 2
Death Year
2000 2
Death Date
2000-11-21 2
Nationality
Czech 2
Career Highlight
Won three gold medals at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics in the 5,000 metres, 10,000 metres and marathon, the only athlete to win all three events at one Olympic Games. 2
Classification
Competition Category
Individual 1
Connections

Plays

Athletics, Sports
Source Wikipedia: Emil Zatopek
In the Other Atlases
  • Also in Geography Atlas: Czechia, nationality there.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Emil Zatopek
WikipediaWikipedia, article summary lead
Quote, Wikipedia, article summary lead
Emil Zátopek (Czech: [ˈɛmɪl ˈzaːtopɛk] ; 19 September 1922 – 21 November 2000) was a Czech long-distance runner who won three gold medals at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.
2. Wikipedia: Emil Zatopek
Wikipedia
  • Lead paragraph, birth line
    19 September 1922
  • Lead paragraph, death line
    21 November 2000
  • Lead paragraph, nationality clause
    was a Czech long-distance runner
  • Lead paragraph, Olympic achievement
    who won three gold medals at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki
  • Plays: Athletics, Lead paragraph, sport identification
    was a Czech long-distance runner
View the Source
Frequently Asked Questions

Which Olympic Games did Emil Zatopek win three gold medals at?

The 1952 Helsinki Games.

Emil Zatopek won three gold medals at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, taking the 5,000 metres, the 10,000 metres and the marathon. He is the only athlete to have won all three of those events at a single Olympic Games.

Take a Related Quiz

Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.