On the 19 September 1922, the long-distance runner, Emil Zátopek was born in  Kopřivnice, Moravia, Czechoslovakia [1922-2000].

Zátopek was the seventh child in a modest family. Aged 16, he began working in a Bata shoe factory in Zlín, where the factory sports coach, ordered 4 boys to run in a race. When he got started, he wanted to win, but only came in second out of the field of 100.

As a result he began to take a serious interest in running and joined the local athletic club. Four years later, in 1944, Zátopek broke the Czechoslovak records for 2,000, 3,000 and 5,000 metres.

Zátopek was selected for the Czechoslovak national team for the 1946 European Championships in Oslo and finished fifth in the 5,000 m. At the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, Zátopek won the 10,000 m and finished in driving rain in the 5,000 m.

The following year Zátopek broke the 10,000 m world record twice

His wife Dana Zátopková, who was born on the same day and year as her husband, won a gold medal in the javelin throw at the 1952 Olympics.

A hero in his native country, Zátopek died in Prague on 22 November 2000 at the age of 78.

19.September, 2019