DD BOOKS: Endurance: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Emil Zátopek by Rick Broadbent published by Wisden Sports Writing (Hardback) €22.50.
This is an excellent biography by The Times former athletics correspondent Rick Broadbent.
It is thoroughly researched and a brilliant insight into the life of Emil Zátopek – a story that goes beyond his Olympic Gold medals.
In the summer of 1952 Emil Zatopek became the king of the running world with an unprecedented distance treble at the Olympic Games in Helsinki.
Together with his wife Dana, who won another gold medal in the javelin, they were the embodiment of sporting romance.
Born on the same day, they were champions on the same day too.
Yet in 1968 this affable but eccentric Czech solider was betrayed by his Communist paymasters and cast out into wilderness.
Hidden from world view, monitored by the secret police and forced to live in a caravan in mining country, he became the invisible hero.
‘Endurance’ is the first biography to document the remarkable rise, fall and rehabilitation of a man voted the ‘greatest runner of all time’ by ‘Runner’s World’ in 2013.
From a lowly factory worker, “the Czech Locomotive” became a global hero.
The biography looks at Zátopek’s time living under the Communist regime as well as his running achievements.
From the rank of lieutenant colonel to being exiled and forced to work as a manual labourer in uranium mines, this is a fascinating and uplifting read of a great sporting hero.
Due to extensive access to those involved, including Dana herself, the award-winning author has written a vivid history involving blood and guns and a love that sustained the cruellest twists of fate.
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