Thank you, TRP! One of your finest videos, for writing (always excellent) subject matter (well, I might be biased) and music selection. I was born in September, shortly after this 1952 Olympic Games. Fourteen years later, I would regularly leave my crazy misguided parental oversight, simply to gain some relief and perspective for an hour; an hour of running. I called this "checking into the endorphinage" and it really helped me cope with the child abuse I was suffering at home, from both parents. By age fifteen, this activity became competitive when I tried out for the High School Track Team. Many miles and many races later, I watch your channel with joy at all you have brought to your viewers. Twenty-Eight Marathons in my 45 year career. Thousands of races from the Mile to the 50 Mile. Your channel makes them as sweet as they have ever been. Thank you TRP - and thank you Emil Zatopek. I still have the 1952 Olympic Games poster hanging on my wall.
@@iminc5498 It is more closely related to improved training, sports medicine, human evolution, shoes and nutrition over the last 67 years, my friend. Athletes can be 100% natural and achieve greatness through training hard and mental toughness through visualization, meditation and preparation. Great athletes know one thing about pain: it is temporary. The Four Minute mile was believed to be impossible and that no human could do it unless they risked death to accomplish the feat. Then in 1954, Roger Bannister lived through the first! It was not long before many followed in his footsteps, long before EPO, blood doping, enhanced performance replacement drinks. Why, would you use EPO? I never have, never will.
Sir, I don't know where you get your footage, but you are definitely "The Man", great video, you are like a history professor. Thanks for posting this.
The story of Jim Peters at the 1954 commonwealth games marathon is heartbreaking. He entered the stadium 17 minutes ahead of the nearest competitor and 10 minutes under world record pace, but collapsed due to exhaustion. He got up and tried to carry on, but over the next 11 minutes he was only able to progress another 200 metres, at which point he was given assistance and therefore disqualified. He never raced again.
Peters ran a marathon only 1 month before the Olympics, it takes a lot longer than one month to recover from the marathon, he should never have run that race so near the Games.
Zatopek invented a totally new training regime. 70 years later that regime remains at the core of all top distance runners' training programmes. Who else in any sport can claim that? GOAT.
I'm only familiar with one trainig regime he had: running in his military boots and with backpack, faster and longer than the actual race would be. (got that from a book about him) And he said: "if the training is hard, the race will be easy". I would be surprised it runners still train like that. (As far as i heard, no marathon runner runs longer distances as the marathon itself in each training session. Zatopek would have done that.)
It's always great to watch a video about our Czech national hero. With that said, couple facts to make the story more real, but not less interesting. 1. Zátopek decided far earlier about his attempt at marathon than just 10 minutes before the start. His curious problem was actually to learn running slower. He used ridiculous numbers of 400m repeats in his training and calculated that to run current Olympic record, it would be equivalent to 85 seconds 400m lap repeated 105 times. He tried that in the morning of a race timed by teammate and was unable to do the 400m slower than in 80 seconds, since his main 5k and 10k races demanded much faster speeds. 2. It's true he has never ran a marathon in a competition, but his volume and intensity of training was such, that he had more than ample experience of covering very high mileage in a single workout. 3. Peters ran his previous world record marathon just 6 weeks before Olympic marathon, which is hardly enough time for proper recovery for a peak performance. On top of that he didn't fit to scheduled airliner and had to take 9 hours flight in almost freezing military airplane to get to Helsinki. The lack of recovery, exhaustion during traveling, heat on the race day and pushing the pace sealed his fate. Even though I love that Emil won, it's unfair to claim he 'destroyed' Peters, when in fact Peters was already in less than optimal shape before the start.
Petr Gogolín thanks for the explanation. I did think when I watched this the “ 10 minutes before “ decision sounded like a fabricated soundbite. Amazing that he won this but I also considered he would have done some serious training mileage so it wouldn’t have been that unusual. Fair play though,outstanding achievement
Emil Zatopek has been one of my sports idols since I was a teen back in the 70s, and first read about him and his incredible race exploits. Add to that I am of partial Czech heritage, made me feel some sort of connection and pride. And when the marathon coverage started, I was waiting for that question from him about if the pace was too fast, something I had read all those years ago. Legendary. Great video!
Fun fact: Jim Peters used to hardly drink anything during his training and competition, instead he used to squeeze a lemom in his mouth and that's also what he did on the first water station in this marathon. Emil saw it and he said "if Peters will take another lemon on the next water station, than i'm going to take two" but than Peters collapse probably due to the lack of hydratation
@@michalvalta5231 they didn't know better back then. And in some places, like the USSA, it was against the rules to TRAIN for any track events like wtf
@@nicksteve5392 I ran high school cross country in the '70's in NJ and the thinking about water was the same. We were told not to drink before practice or a meet and could only drink a few sips during practice. The reason was, we were told, that too much fluids would lead to stomach cramps, or "stitching", when, in fact, the opposite was true.
As a running enthusiast, I express my deepest and sincere gratitude to the ones who put this video together. Thank you from bottom of my heart. This is total GOLD footage.
Lasse Viren attempted the same triple in 1976, winning the 5000 and 10000, but finished 5th in the marathon! It really highlights Emil Zatopek's accomplishment.
Yes, I was there in Montreal that day. His decision to even run in the Marathon was made once he had won the 5k and 10k. He just said, "Why not try? I might never get another chance." Cheers.
I've heard the name Emil Zatopek in passing conversation but now after watching this I understand why he has become a national hero, I'm British but absolutely well done Emil and Czechoslovakia.
All three of Zatopek’s gold medals were in Olympic record time. This is why it will NEVER be duplicated. (The Africans have tried.) He is the GROAT Greatest Runner Of All Time, as per Runners World.
3:46 - What people didn't know was that Zapotek runs 100+ miles a week during training, giving him the endurance necessary to run a marathon. That same distance (100+ miles a week) is now used by all elite runners from the 5K to the marathon.
He was also the first recorded man in history to run more than 20km in one hour...I never met him but I saw him about 20 years later running in the streets of Prague. He would accelerate at will, looking more like an antelope, having fun racing busses and trolleys of public transportation.
@@Wings_of_foam They were born on there same day, 19 September 1922, ( they told me themselves, :-) and both won gold at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952.
@@danfuerthgillis4483 There's any data backing up these claims? And even if it was bad for your body I don't think at 19 the damage would be so evident, it would take more years to take a toll on their bodies. Also Kipchoge looks almost the same at 19 and at 35, so that is probably just his face lmao. Look at other long distance runners like Mo Farah and they don't look like that.
I've been reading and watching everything I can about this great man for thirty years. Thanks for posting. Also he was not just a champion athlete but also a champion human being.
Most definitely a champion human being who gave me 7 hours of his time at his home in Prague in 1990 beginning with an offer of a beer. Extremely open about any and every issue. He had a beautiful heart and mind and I praise God for opening this door to get to know this great man who was genuinely humble and wise and very very funny.
Finally! I have seen many videos that claim to be the greatest upset of all time but this one actually appears to have delivered what it claimed. Well done!
From watching his runs, he does have that, a bit slower, then a bit faster, then a bit slower rhythm to his races. It clearly worked for him. Maybe it put off competitors that tried to keep up but were phased by the changes in pace and just broke after a while like Peters
Zatopek is the greatest distance runner ever. The winning streak, the unheard of, 5 / 10 / marathon triple will never be done again. For his era, He was a god
Emil Zátopek got on our team coach in Prague in the sixties to welcome the British team to Czechoslovakia. We were on our way to Brno.... He sat next to me for a few miles which was an honor. Brno is the former capital city of Moravia and the political and cultural hub of the South Moravian Region. After the track meet we were taken to a winery in the mountains there was nothing to drink except wine and we were all dehydrated, many of the athletes got drunk out of their minds. It was a ghastly ride back to the hotel...
The man is just exuding confidence. He checks over his shoulder non-chalantly to see his competitor working hard to keep up with him, picks up the pace against the reigning world champion of the langest race he had ever run, then continues to play catch-up and miming at the camera all the way to the finish line. Simply incredible. Definitely a running legend.
He is still a sporting legend in Finland - we call him "Satupekka" (Story-Pete; comes from his surname and probably also his habit of talking to the media etc.). Certainly the hero of Helsinki. On an interesting side note about the 1952 Olympics; Those were the games that brought Coca-Cola to Finland!
If you haven't, maybe you could make a video on Abebe Bikila. He won the 1960 Olympic marathon barefoot, and the circumstances leading up to it are also pretty interesting.
And he won the 1964 with IIRC 4 minutes' gap to the silver medalist, which is more than with Zatopek. Bikila was probably the greatest marathon runner of all.
For those who don't do quick conversions of miles to meters, a marathon is 42,195 meters, so it's like running a bit over FOUR 10,000 meter races. Also, because it wasn't reported for some reason Emil Zátopek was Czechoslovak.
i am glad you brought this legend back to the young generations. I would love to see more stories of extraordinary athletes like this one. Thank you for doing it.
I read his book. It's very good. It's amazing to see his achievements but what happened to him afterwards shows that no matter who you are, if you don't agree with the powers that be then you will be made to suffer. A bitter sweet story.
Emil Zatopek was a man my highschool track coack always said was the best runner in history. That was in the 70s, and eventhough the times arent as fast, I think he, and Lasse Viren are the two greatest. Great video.
There are many stories about him here in Czechia. 1. He often trained with a dog all day and the dog was really exhausted in the evening. 2. He started his career, when he was 16 at work run. He didnt want to run but had to, so he tried the best and won the adult competition. 3. When he went through a alley, he stoped breathing and run to second tree, next day third, etc and he run through the whole alley and colapsed.
He didnt race in marathon before, but his training volume was crazy high. Extreme training sassion was 100x400m in race pace with 200m between to cool down.... no one train this hard today...
right now a movie about Zatopek is being shot in czech republic. Look for it later this year. It is called Zátopek. It will have best possible production, best director, best czech actors. I hope it will not be a flop for other reasons. This is a must watch for everyone here : )
He was also called Emil Hrozný - Emil the Horrible - because the grimaces he made during his runs. Finns called him Satu-Pekka (Story Pete) and his wife Dana called him Ťopek.
That is absolutely amazing! I'm mesmerized by the amount of knowledge you share on your channel. This is great stuff! I wonder how you know so much about running history whether its academic research or simply a hobby of yours. Thanks for another phenomenal video and possibly one of your bests!
A few years later...Zatopek was an instructor at an Olympic training academy in Prague...which my dad was fortunate to attend and spend a good deal of time with the great man. This is where my father learned a specific strategy directly from him, what in Czech was called “Trhaky”...where Emil would run in a pack and then suddenly sprint for half a lap before settling down to the pace before...however as soon as the others caught up, he would take off again...destroying their minds and bodies in the process. Two decades later however, Zatopek spoke out against the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 and was promptly made into a celebrity garbage man doing the route for a number of years...prior to the 1989 Velvet Revolution. Indeed...the great humanity of the socialist system.mm
A) did the 5K and/or 10K have heats in '52? B) Do we think Peters running a full marathon one month before was still with him? Thanks for another great video!
I talked to him about that but in 1990 he was able to really forgive and shared a number of funny stories about this experience which bought many smiles to his face
To this date, Emil Zatopek is the only atlete ever to win all long distance runs in the same Olympic Games... and speaking in Jim Peters' defense I have to say that no runner considered favorite in the Marathon has ever won the event at the Olympic Games.
3:34 "Given that he had never run this distance" Any world class athlete who trains for 6.2 miles is putting in over 100 miles a week. The point? Just because he never raced at 26.2188 miles doesn't mean "he had never run this distance" in his life. *Doesn't make it any less incredible that he eclipsed the entire field, winning Olympic gold the first time he raced at that distance.*
Zatopec also had an infection and his doctor forbade him to participate the 1952 olympics... he went anyways... Also: Zatopec was unaware of the custums during a marathon and thought he had to pay for the refreshments provided during the race, so he decided not to take any... He ran the damn marathon for his first time without even drinking anything after winning the 5k and 10k with a damn infection and beating the olympic record while also joking with the press while running... this man is the absolute GOAT! Edit: I also forgot to mention: When he entered the stadium he actually accelerated to the amazement of anybody who witnessed it.
Emil Zatopek is truly one of the greatest runners of all times. While Bekele and Gebreselassie have displayed versatility at distances from 5km up to marathon the fact Zatopek one Olympic Gold at all these distances separates him as the best and to do it at the same Olympic Games is a feat that I believe will never be equaled in middle distance/long distance running again.
The Olympic website continues Emil and Dana's story. Well worth the read. "In 1966, he gave one of his gold medals to Ron Clarke - the greatest distance runner never to win a gold of his own." That's why athletes can be the precursors of the human race.
Lasse Viren was close on the same achievment in Montreal 1976. The problem was that he had already raced 4 times as he had to go through the preliminary rounds in both 5k and 10k. Zatopek only had to race the finals. Viren had also only one restday since his 5k victory. He was leading the marathon still after 30km but then he had used all of his stamina and willpower. He became 5th. For me that is almost as great as what Zatopek did as also Lasse had never run a marathon before. He said afterwards that if he would have one restday more, he would have won. Don't think anybody doubted that.
Recently I saw a documentary about him. They have been showing scanns of his chest and heart. He had extremely good heart, of a bell shape, they said that thats how he could handle such a hard trainings. Some young atheletes tried to train like he did, no way... His talent was in his extreme endurance and also mental strenght.
I once got booted from the Track Team for one weekend because I had just got over Chicken Pox. So I entered a Local 5k.. (I was a Varsity Long Distance Letterman) Race Time: As I bolted from the start and I was told by bystander to slow downz that I would burn myself out. Minutes later I was half a mile in the lead coasting to the finish. :)
The great sports columnist Red Smith, who covered numerous Olympics, wrote that the greatest feat he ever saw in the Games was Zatopek in 1952. Keep in mind Emil had won the 5,000 Meters the day before the Marathon win!
Wow, I committed about zatopek in a previous video of yours and now you are doing a whole video about him.. Just epic. But what a tragic ending to a great runner..
Ever since I first saw a video clip of him about 30 years ago, I have always thought of Zatopek as the greatest long distance runner although Paavo Nurmi also should be very close behind. Zatopek's 1952 performances must surely rank as the greatest athletics achievement ever seen at any Olympics.
The life of Emil Zatopek is proof that superheroes really exist, they are made of flesh and bones. They just were not born in US as expected. His public and personal life is plenty of extraordinary anecdotes as it was in athletics.
Thank you, TRP! One of your finest videos, for writing (always excellent) subject matter (well, I might be biased) and music selection. I was born in September, shortly after this 1952 Olympic Games. Fourteen years later, I would regularly leave my crazy misguided parental oversight, simply to gain some relief and perspective for an hour; an hour of running. I called this "checking into the endorphinage" and it really helped me cope with the child abuse I was suffering at home, from both parents.
By age fifteen, this activity became competitive when I tried out for the High School Track Team. Many miles and many races later, I watch your channel with joy at all you have brought to your viewers. Twenty-Eight Marathons in my 45 year career. Thousands of races from the Mile to the 50 Mile. Your channel makes them as sweet as they have ever been. Thank you TRP - and thank you Emil Zatopek. I still have the 1952 Olympic Games poster hanging on my wall.
This is when runners wasn’t dopers......Kipchoge has ran half an hour faster than this....a whole 30 minutes 😂 EPO, helluva drug!
@@iminc5498 It is more closely related to improved training, sports medicine, human evolution, shoes and nutrition over the last 67 years, my friend. Athletes can be 100% natural and achieve greatness through training hard and mental toughness through visualization, meditation and preparation. Great athletes know one thing about pain: it is temporary.
The Four Minute mile was believed to be impossible and that no human could do it unless they risked death to accomplish the feat. Then in 1954, Roger Bannister lived through the first! It was not long before many followed in his footsteps, long before EPO, blood doping, enhanced performance replacement drinks. Why, would you use EPO? I never have, never will.
@@libradragon great onsite to what the best athletes are able to achieve.
A In nice math.
@@donshields2379 Thank you, Sir. I appreciate your comment.
Fun fact: His wife Dana won gold in javelin at the same olympics
Did I ask
Forrest Barnes ツ shut yo 12 year old ass up
Jail. Lol chill
Cool fact. Stfu Forest Barnes
“The more you know!” (ding!)
Legend has it that Ztopek didnt drink water throughout the 26.2 miles as he thought he had to pay for it and he had no money :)
For reals? If it is that is hilarious!!!
Those Finns are unbelievable. Proper LEGEND!
@@TheLegenDacster were..Emil Zatopek was Czech
@@shuveshek You're absolutely right Shuveshek, I hadn't Finnished Czeching my facts. Best wishes.
Allan Dacruz nice save
Sir, I don't know where you get your footage, but you are definitely "The Man", great video, you are like a history professor. Thanks for posting this.
The story of Jim Peters at the 1954 commonwealth games marathon is heartbreaking. He entered the stadium 17 minutes ahead of the nearest competitor and 10 minutes under world record pace, but collapsed due to exhaustion. He got up and tried to carry on, but over the next 11 minutes he was only able to progress another 200 metres, at which point he was given assistance and therefore disqualified. He never raced again.
Peters ran a marathon only 1 month before the Olympics, it takes a lot longer than one month to recover from the marathon, he should never have run that race so near the Games.
😢
Peters ...close to death 2x.
Peters... needed to carbohydrate load...liquid intake was wrong too.
@@lestermount3287 Don't tell Yuki Kawauchi that...
Zatopek invented a totally new training regime. 70 years later that regime remains at the core of all top distance runners' training programmes. Who else in any sport can claim that? GOAT.
I'm only familiar with one trainig regime he had: running in his military boots and with backpack, faster and longer than the actual race would be. (got that from a book about him) And he said: "if the training is hard, the race will be easy". I would be surprised it runners still train like that. (As far as i heard, no marathon runner runs longer distances as the marathon itself in each training session. Zatopek would have done that.)
Utter nonsense which is why you provide zero details...
It's always great to watch a video about our Czech national hero. With that said, couple facts to make the story more real, but not less interesting.
1. Zátopek decided far earlier about his attempt at marathon than just 10 minutes before the start. His curious problem was actually to learn running slower. He used ridiculous numbers of 400m repeats in his training and calculated that to run current Olympic record, it would be equivalent to 85 seconds 400m lap repeated 105 times. He tried that in the morning of a race timed by teammate and was unable to do the 400m slower than in 80 seconds, since his main 5k and 10k races demanded much faster speeds.
2. It's true he has never ran a marathon in a competition, but his volume and intensity of training was such, that he had more than ample experience of covering very high mileage in a single workout.
3. Peters ran his previous world record marathon just 6 weeks before Olympic marathon, which is hardly enough time for proper recovery for a peak performance. On top of that he didn't fit to scheduled airliner and had to take 9 hours flight in almost freezing military airplane to get to Helsinki. The lack of recovery, exhaustion during traveling, heat on the race day and pushing the pace sealed his fate. Even though I love that Emil won, it's unfair to claim he 'destroyed' Peters, when in fact Peters was already in less than optimal shape before the start.
Petr Gogolín thanks for the explanation. I did think when I watched this the “ 10 minutes before “ decision sounded like a fabricated soundbite.
Amazing that he won this but I also considered he would have done some serious training mileage so it wouldn’t have been that unusual.
Fair play though,outstanding achievement
I felt bad for him after learning what happen to him later on.
Bro zato ran 5000 10000 before marathon... He legit bro..
@@farredzul nobody said he isnt
@@prostechlapec9247 so he destroyed peter is legit bro... Because...u see. He run 10000 5000 before run marathon
A true Czech legend, our national hero.
no bohužial som zo slovenska a nie česka
almost buried from history because of your communist government
The Czech Locomotive had an engine that wouldn’t quit. A true legend in his own time and beyond.
Thank-you for this awesome and well-deserved tribute.
Emil Zatopek has been one of my sports idols since I was a teen back in the 70s, and first read about him and his incredible race exploits. Add to that I am of partial Czech heritage, made me feel some sort of connection and pride. And when the marathon coverage started, I was waiting for that question from him about if the pace was too fast, something I had read all those years ago. Legendary. Great video!
Fun fact: Jim Peters used to hardly drink anything during his training and competition, instead he used to squeeze a lemom in his mouth and that's also what he did on the first water station in this marathon. Emil saw it and he said "if Peters will take another lemon on the next water station, than i'm going to take two" but than Peters collapse probably due to the lack of hydratation
Wow, that's pretty dumb...
@@michalvalta5231 they didn't know better back then. And in some places, like the USSA, it was against the rules to TRAIN for any track events like wtf
Best to read what Prof Tim Noakes says about hydration during marathons...
@@nicksteve5392 I ran high school cross country in the '70's in NJ and the thinking about water was the same. We were told not to drink before practice or a meet and could only drink a few sips during practice. The reason was, we were told, that too much fluids would lead to stomach cramps, or "stitching", when, in fact, the opposite was true.
As a running enthusiast, I express my deepest and sincere gratitude to the ones who put this video together. Thank you from bottom of my heart. This is total GOLD footage.
Lasse Viren attempted the same triple in 1976, winning the 5000 and 10000, but finished 5th in the marathon! It really highlights Emil Zatopek's accomplishment.
Yes, I was there in Montreal that day. His decision to even run in the Marathon was made once he had won the 5k and 10k. He just said, "Why not try? I might never get another chance." Cheers.
He was accused of doping but they did not test for it yet.
The triple will never be repeated. The competition is too great. Viren’s feat was amazing.
Thinking there was talk of, Blood Doping, rather than Drugs,..
Video from 1952: good quality
2019 ncaa xc championships: quality has left the chat
I've heard the name Emil Zatopek in passing conversation but now after watching this I understand why he has become a national hero, I'm British but absolutely well done Emil and Czechoslovakia.
All three of Zatopek’s gold medals were in Olympic record time. This is why it will NEVER be duplicated. (The Africans have tried.) He is the GROAT Greatest Runner Of All Time, as per Runners World.
And he is White. This is not pointed out by the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. crowd.
GOAT sounds better. He was before my time, so I can't comment on the man's ability.
3:46 - What people didn't know was that Zapotek runs 100+ miles a week during training, giving him the endurance necessary to run a marathon. That same distance (100+ miles a week) is now used by all elite runners from the 5K to the marathon.
Someone else mentioned, that his training methods he set, are used til now.
He was also the first recorded man in history to run more than 20km in one hour...I never met him but I saw him about 20 years later running in the streets of Prague. He would accelerate at will, looking more like an antelope, having fun racing busses and trolleys of public transportation.
Fun fact: He and his wife Dana, who won the javelin gold in Helsinki, were born on the same day.
No at the same year.
@@Wings_of_foam They were born on there same day, 19 September 1922, ( they told me themselves, :-) and both won gold at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952.
"We saw an 18 year old Eliud Kipchoge" lmfao he looks 40 there!!!!
That One No doubt about that!
Silky Black lmfao indeed these long distance runs are notoriously bad for your body.
@@danfuerthgillis4483 *Laughs in Tarahumara*
He might "look" 40, but that would mean he'd be almost 60 today and running sub 2.....
@@danfuerthgillis4483 There's any data backing up these claims? And even if it was bad for your body I don't think at 19 the damage would be so evident, it would take more years to take a toll on their bodies. Also Kipchoge looks almost the same at 19 and at 35, so that is probably just his face lmao. Look at other long distance runners like Mo Farah and they don't look like that.
He won three gold medals in long distance races (in a single Olympic Games), is unbelievable! Zatopec was an amazing runner!
I've been reading and watching everything I can about this great man for thirty years. Thanks for posting. Also he was not just a champion athlete but also a champion human being.
There is a new movie about him. Coming soon to Czech cinemas.
watch?v=7w4wrFem5yE
Great person indeed , still i think the amount of people that should know his name is very low
Most definitely a champion human being who gave me 7 hours of his time at his home in Prague in 1990 beginning with an offer of a beer. Extremely open about any and every issue. He had a beautiful heart and mind and I praise God for opening this door to get to know this great man who was genuinely humble and wise and very very funny.
Finally! I have seen many videos that claim to be the greatest upset of all time but this one actually appears to have delivered what it claimed. Well done!
Zatopek is reputed to have said: “When you can’t go on, go faster.”
Když nemůžeš, tak přidej...
@Stellvia Hoenheim for fatasses like u
@Stellvia Hoenheim Nah you’re straight up disrespecting the idol of some people. Dumb or no that’s not cool.
From watching his runs, he does have that, a bit slower, then a bit faster, then a bit slower rhythm to his races. It clearly worked for him. Maybe it put off competitors that tried to keep up but were phased by the changes in pace and just broke after a while like Peters
@@AppleSauceGamingChannel You are right, it was his tactics, change of pace wass killing his oponents.
Zatopek is the greatest distance runner ever. The winning streak, the unheard of, 5 / 10 / marathon triple will never be done again. For his era, He was a god
Emil Zátopek got on our team coach in Prague in the sixties to welcome the British team to Czechoslovakia. We were on our way to Brno.... He sat next to me for a few miles which was an honor. Brno is the former capital city of Moravia and the political and cultural hub of the South Moravian Region. After the track meet we were taken to a winery in the mountains there was nothing to drink except wine and we were all dehydrated, many of the athletes got drunk out of their minds. It was a ghastly ride back to the hotel...
The man is just exuding confidence. He checks over his shoulder non-chalantly to see his competitor working hard to keep up with him, picks up the pace against the reigning world champion of the langest race he had ever run, then continues to play catch-up and miming at the camera all the way to the finish line.
Simply incredible. Definitely a running legend.
He is still a sporting legend in Finland - we call him "Satupekka" (Story-Pete; comes from his surname and probably also his habit of talking to the media etc.). Certainly the hero of Helsinki. On an interesting side note about the 1952 Olympics; Those were the games that brought Coca-Cola to Finland!
Watching this in 2021, lockdown in the Fiji Islands. I am so glad to read about this great man. What an achievement.
My running hero, Emil Zatopek, in my opinion, the greatest distance runner of all times. He is also my hero of life itself.
Only the modern tendency to be reined in by the 'recency bias' has him not talked of as such. Unbelievable athlete!!
Can’t forget the flying Finns like Paavo Nurmi et al, or abebe bakila. I love the legends of old.
If you want to run a fast marathon, you need to run fast 10km distances. This man did it.
I love all the modern greats!!
But this man is something else altogether
Emil had won the São Silvestre in Brazil. Unforgatable. Fantastic!
If you haven't, maybe you could make a video on Abebe Bikila. He won the 1960 Olympic marathon barefoot, and the circumstances leading up to it are also pretty interesting.
And he won the 1964 with IIRC 4 minutes' gap to the silver medalist, which is more than with Zatopek. Bikila was probably the greatest marathon runner of all.
His friend won in 68 he said if abebe hasbeen able to have run he would have beaten me
PaulVinonaama..it is possible that he was not as tired by not running the 5,000 km and 10,000 km in world record times prior to this event.
og orange duck Bikila is my hero!
PaulVinonaama and, Wolde won in ‘68 and silvered in ‘72!
At 65 years old, I don't have many heroes, but Zatopek is one of them.
TRP. The quality of your videos keeps getting better... and better... and better! Many thanks for allowing us to view them. Cheers mate.
"If you cannot go any further, push harder. " Emil Zatopek
TRP carrying the quarantine for us. 🙏 🙏 🙏 keep up the amazing content
This was excellent, given Emil achievement i cant believe there hasnt been more publicity about it!
For those who don't do quick conversions of miles to meters, a marathon is 42,195 meters, so it's like running a bit over FOUR 10,000 meter races. Also, because it wasn't reported for some reason Emil Zátopek was Czechoslovak.
The script and delivery on this is captivating. Thanks, I thoroughly enjoyed this
i am glad you brought this legend back to the young generations. I would love to see more stories of extraordinary athletes like this one. Thank you for doing it.
I could care less about running or any of this. However, I watched the entire video and it was awesome. Well done sir!
I read his book. It's very good. It's amazing to see his achievements but what happened to him afterwards shows that no matter who you are, if you don't agree with the powers that be then you will be made to suffer. A bitter sweet story.
Emil Zatopek was a man my highschool track coack always said was the best runner in history. That was in the 70s, and eventhough the times arent as fast, I think he, and Lasse Viren are the two greatest. Great video.
My 70's track coach said the same thing.
What a Legend.!!Performed outbof his skin, truly matchless!!
Chatting and talking to the media while running a marathon. A Special category of Super Human Runner. Thanks for sharing this
I wasn't aware of this achievement. Thanks for sharing. I'm sure this feat will never be repeated.
This is insane huge respect for Zatopek.
Ahoi from the Czech Republic- he’s a hero here; the byline being that he was told to change his style, but he ignored them .. to win
i just noticed that Ztopek beat the old world record in this race by approx. 2.5min
There are many stories about him here in Czechia.
1. He often trained with a dog all day and the dog was really exhausted in the evening.
2. He started his career, when he was 16 at work run. He didnt want to run but had to, so he tried the best and won the adult competition.
3. When he went through a alley, he stoped breathing and run to second tree, next day third, etc and he run through the whole alley and colapsed.
He didnt race in marathon before, but his training volume was crazy high. Extreme training sassion was 100x400m in race pace with 200m between to cool down.... no one train this hard today...
I really don't care much about running (or sports, for that matter) but your videos are fascinating to watch. Thanks for sharing.
right now a movie about Zatopek is being shot in czech republic. Look for it later this year. It is called Zátopek. It will have best possible production, best director, best czech actors. I hope it will not be a flop for other reasons. This is a must watch for everyone here : )
trailer to movie is here th-cam.com/video/j0S1k5L74Hs/w-d-xo.html
As I recall from those days Zatopek was affectionately called " The Beast of Prague".
Denise Wise The Czech Locomotive, too!
You may have that mixed up with Reinhard Heydrich....
He was also called Emil Hrozný - Emil the Horrible - because the grimaces he made during his runs. Finns called him Satu-Pekka (Story Pete) and his wife Dana called him Ťopek.
Amazing !! Why have i never heard of this remarkable man up until now?? Athletic history should be far more publicised . Excellent work sir.
Probably because this was before the era of live tv sports
Hey man been following your channel for quite awhile now, just want to say well done, your videos are always a pleasure.
Annual meet in Australia named after this great man
It is the Australian national 10k championship.
Dang that zatopek dude be flexing on them haters.
These videos are so entertaining to watch!
Absolutely, way better than politics!!
That is absolutely amazing! I'm mesmerized by the amount of knowledge you share on your channel. This is great stuff! I wonder how you know so much about running history whether its academic research or simply a hobby of yours. Thanks for another phenomenal video and possibly one of your bests!
A few years later...Zatopek was an instructor at an Olympic training academy in Prague...which my dad was fortunate to attend and spend a good deal of time with the great man. This is where my father learned a specific strategy directly from him, what in Czech was called “Trhaky”...where Emil would run in a pack and then suddenly sprint for half a lap before settling down to the pace before...however as soon as the others caught up, he would take off again...destroying their minds and bodies in the process.
Two decades later however, Zatopek spoke out against the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 and was promptly made into a celebrity garbage man doing the route for a number of years...prior to the 1989 Velvet Revolution. Indeed...the great humanity of the socialist system.mm
Fun fact: Emil used to train with militar boots, just because, according to him " it feels so good when you take them off:
A) did the 5K and/or 10K have heats in '52? B) Do we think Peters running a full marathon one month before was still with him? Thanks for another great video!
the Legendary Emil Zatopek👍💪
I thought I had watched all the film there was on old racing, and TRP has proved me wrong! I am delighted. Keep 'em coming.
If there was a 20 000 meter run, the dude would probably win it too.
What a legend. An absolute BEAST 💪
Zatopek was an amazing legend of his time
Too bad what the communist did to him
He was blooding so he was a cheat
I talked to him about that but in 1990 he was able to really forgive and shared a number of funny stories about this experience which bought many smiles to his face
He didn't even drink water during the race, nor had he any sports energy drinks available!
Crazy!
Wow! I only follow the typical, popular sports, but, this performance is up there with any other, in any another sport... Simply Amazing 😲
And he looked like a 50 year old accountant.
What a nice unexpected Tuesday night upload. Thank you TRP for another well produced piece of running history.
Your channel is by far my favorite, keep it up!
Finally! I have seen so many videos that say the biggest upset... This one actually delivers. Well done!
Everything I know about competitive running I learned by watching TRP videos. Great content.
Never even knew this story. Billy Mills is still my favorite story but this is incredible as well. Thanks for sharing.
To this date, Emil Zatopek is the only atlete ever to win all long distance runs in the same Olympic Games... and speaking in Jim Peters' defense I have to say that no runner considered favorite in the Marathon has ever won the event at the Olympic Games.
Bikila in 1964 wasn't the favorite?
"If you want to win a race try the 100 meter. If you want to win an experience try the marathon." - Emil Zátopek
3:34 "Given that he had never run this distance"
Any world class athlete who trains for 6.2 miles is putting in over 100 miles a week.
The point? Just because he never raced at 26.2188 miles doesn't mean "he had never run this distance" in his life.
*Doesn't make it any less incredible that he eclipsed the entire field, winning Olympic gold the first time he raced at that distance.*
Wow! I heard of him, but hadn’t known this amazing feat
Zatopec also had an infection and his doctor forbade him to participate the 1952 olympics... he went anyways...
Also: Zatopec was unaware of the custums during a marathon and thought he had to pay for the refreshments provided during the race, so he decided not to take any...
He ran the damn marathon for his first time without even drinking anything after winning the 5k and 10k with a damn infection and beating the olympic record while also joking with the press while running... this man is the absolute GOAT!
Edit: I also forgot to mention: When he entered the stadium he actually accelerated to the amazement of anybody who witnessed it.
Emil Zatopek is truly one of the greatest runners of all times. While Bekele and Gebreselassie have displayed versatility at distances from 5km up to marathon the fact Zatopek one Olympic Gold at all these distances separates him as the best and to do it at the same Olympic Games is a feat that I believe will never be equaled in middle distance/long distance running again.
Emil Zátopek i s manželkou jsou hvězdy!!! Navždy...
Superb video yet again. Thanks for creating such informative content. What an achievement from this exceptional athlete. 🏃🏻♂️👍🏼
The Olympic website continues Emil and Dana's story. Well worth the read. "In 1966, he gave one of his gold medals to Ron Clarke - the greatest distance runner never to win a gold of his own." That's why athletes can be the precursors of the human race.
I hope you make more videos about Emil Zatopek. His sports carrer but also it's political background are both tragic and inspirational.
What a Legend.
Excellent video.
what a story, love the talking and smiling during the race
Yeah, during his marathon race he was joking with photographs and journalists as it was a bit boring to him. 😅
Lasse Viren was close on the same achievment in Montreal 1976. The problem was that he had already raced 4 times as he had to go through the preliminary rounds in both 5k and 10k. Zatopek only had to race the finals. Viren had also only one restday since his 5k victory. He was leading the marathon still after 30km but then he had used all of his stamina and willpower. He became 5th. For me that is almost as great as what Zatopek did as also Lasse had never run a marathon before. He said afterwards that if he would have one restday more, he would have won. Don't think anybody doubted that.
Recently I saw a documentary about him. They have been showing scanns of his chest and heart. He had extremely good heart, of a bell shape, they said that thats how he could handle such a hard trainings. Some young atheletes tried to train like he did, no way... His talent was in his extreme endurance and also mental strenght.
I once got booted from the Track Team for one weekend because I had just got over Chicken Pox. So I entered a Local 5k.. (I was a Varsity Long Distance Letterman) Race Time: As I bolted from the start and I was told by bystander to slow downz that I would burn myself out. Minutes later I was half a mile in the lead coasting to the finish. :)
I remember seeing him on TV growing up in England. Fantastic talent.
The great sports columnist Red Smith, who covered numerous Olympics, wrote that the greatest feat he ever saw in the Games was Zatopek in 1952. Keep in mind Emil had won the 5,000 Meters the day before the Marathon win!
Nuts. Loved the clip. All the info needed, not stretched, just right.
Oh for the days when sports were about athletics and not extracurricular agendas! This is a very inspirational story.
Thank you for sharing.
Wow, I committed about zatopek in a previous video of yours and now you are doing a whole video about him.. Just epic. But what a tragic ending to a great runner..
Ever since I first saw a video clip of him about 30 years ago, I have always thought of Zatopek as the greatest long distance runner although Paavo Nurmi also should be very close behind. Zatopek's 1952 performances must surely rank as the greatest athletics achievement ever seen at any Olympics.
Incredible video! Historic and legendary!
The life of Emil Zatopek is proof that superheroes really exist, they are made of flesh and bones. They just were not born in US as expected. His public and personal life is plenty of extraordinary anecdotes as it was in athletics.
Very true
Saw the thumbnail and immediately thought of that video of HS Michael Stember
Matteo Brownlow yes
Yeah that video where he kicked in the mile with 675 meters left.