Emil Zatopek and Dana Zatopkova: Google honors the “golden” pair of Olympians

Tribute to the golden Czech Olympians Emil Zatopek and Dana Zatopkova with today’s Google Doodle.

Both Emil and Natana were born on the same day, September 19, 1922. They made history for the Czech Republic in 1952 Olympic Games. There Ntana won gold in the women’s javelin one hour after her husband, Emil, won the men’s 5,000 meters

Nathana from an early age he developed a passion for sports, but initially he played handball. She then picked up the javelin and became the first Czech woman to throw it over 40 meters, a feat that qualified her for the 1948 Olympics.

Emil in his teens he worked in a shoe factory. There he was encouraged to run in a local race where he finished second out of a hundred participants! Emil became a soldier in the Czech army and trained at night by running in boots while holding his breath to improve his endurance. His legend grew when he cycled from Prague to Berlin and won the 5,000m race.

Emil watched Ntana’s javelin qualifying match and congratulated her on her participation in the Olympics. After bonding over their shared birthdays, the two started a relationship. They traveled together to the 1948 London Olympics, where Emil won gold in the 10,000 meters and Dana placed seventh in the javelin. Shortly after, the couple got married.

So at the Helsinki Olympics both entered the pantheon of athletics. Emil won gold in the 5,000m, 10,000m and marathon – the first to do so – breaking the Olympic record in all three events. Dana not only placed first and set an Olympic record in the javelin, but became the first Czech woman to win an Olympic gold medal. Because of the pair’s performance that year, Czechoslovakia took home more gold medals than any other country except the United States.

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