AN ENDURING STORY
MEL WATMAN REVIEWS A REVEALING BOOK ON ONE OF THE GREATEST DISTANCE RUNNERS OF ALL TIME
Surrounded by photographers in his heyday, Emil Zàtopek is still the focus of media interest with the publication of several biographies this year
IN 2002 BOB PHILLIPS wrote the definitive book on Emil Zàtopek’s astonishing running career with detailed descriptions of his key races and all the statistics any track nut could wish for. The title was “Zàtopek! Zàtopek! Zàtopek!” and the sub-title was “The life & times of the world’s greatest distance runner”.
Since then, Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele could claim that distinction, but for fans of my generation at least, Emil remains the greatest and it’s fitting that 15 years after his death his achievements should continue to be celebrated. Two books were published simultaneously in late April: this one and Richard Askwith’s Today WeDie A Little: The Rise & Fall of Emil Zàtopek (Yellow Jersey Press, £16.99). What’s more, there’s another biography, by Pat Butcher, to follow later in the year!
Rick Broadbent, the former athletics correspondent of The Times and ghostwriter of Jessica Ennis’s bestselling autobiography Unbelievable – From My Childhood DreamsTo Winning Olympic Gold, is an outstanding journalist and he has researched his subject deeply, interviewing Emil’s widow Dana and several other Czechs who played a significant role in his life. Indeed this 314-page book, although thoroughly documenting his races, constitutes a fascinating and often disturbing account of Zàtopek’s life off the track.