Emil Zatopek at 1994 European Championships in Helsinki (© Getty Images)
A statue of Czech distance running legend Emil Zatopek was unveiled yesterday in the Gardens of the Olympic Museum.
The bronze, which was sculpted by Jaroslav Broz and presented by the Czech Olympic Committee, was unveiled in the presence of Emil Zatopek's wife Dana Zatopkova the 1952 Olympic Javelin champion, IOC President Jacques Rogge, and delegates from the local municipality and the Czech Republic.
Zatopek died on 21 November 2000 at the age of 78. During a peerless distance running career the Czech Army Officer captured four Olympic golds and one silver medal. Three of his titles came at the 1952 Helsinki Games in which he won an unmatched triple at 5000, 10,000m and the Marathon. During a six-year period, from 1948 through to 1954, he won an unprecedented 38 consecutive 10,000m races and set 18 World records over various distances.
The new statue is one of just four sculptures situated in the Gardens of the Olympic Museum, which celebrate the deeds of illustrious sporting figures, the others being of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Movement, Paavo Nurmi, Finland’s nine-time Olympic distance running champion, and Drazen Petrovic, the Croatian Basketball Star.
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