Possibly the greatest ever feat in modern Olympics – that of winning the 5,000m, the 10,000m, followed by the marathon – was accomplished by Czechoslovakian Emil Zatopek, who was born on this day in 1922.
Not only did Zatopek win the three most grueling races in the 1952 Helsinki Games, he was actually taking part in a marathon for the first time, and he was in Helsinki defying doctor’s orders, having suffered severe gland infection two months before the Olympics.
The victory was extra sweet for Zatopek as his wife, Dana, won the javelin gold on the same day when he won the 5,000m.
The Bouncing Czech’ lost some of his best years to World War II, but dominated from 1948 until 1954, setting 18 world records over various distances including every record from 5,000m to 30km, and won four Olympic golds and one silver.
1922: Dana Zatopek, former Czech javelin thrower, winner of the 1952 Olympic gold medal and wife of the legendary Emil Zatopek, also born on this day in the same year (93).
1963: David Seaman, former England, Arsenal and Manchester City goalkeeper (52).
1977: Akash Chopra, former India Test opening batsman and now a respected commentator and columnist (38).
