Olympic Javelin Champion Dana Zatopkova, 97

(ATR) Dana Zátopková, the 1952 Olympic javelin champion and wife of legendary Czechoslovak distance runner Emil Zátopek, died on Friday in Prague. She was 97.

Zátopková’s gold medal performance at the 1952 Helsinki Games came just one hour after her husband Emil, won the 5,000 meters. Her winning throw of 50.47 meters (165 feet, 7 inches) was set on the first of her six throws in the final.

The Czechoslovakian athlete also won a silver medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics, having competed at four consecutive Olympic Games from 1948 to 1960. In 1958, in Frankfurt, Germany, she broke a world record tossing the javelin 55.73 meters, breaking the previous mark by nearly 10 inches. It was the longest throw ever with a wooden javelin.

In 1998, Zátopková was awarded the Olympic Order, and 15 years later she was presented with the Medal for Merit. Even after turning 90, she remained actively engaged in the Olympic Movement.

"Dana was a great athlete in her time, but her personality and passion for sport has transcended her own generation. She has been a coach and confidante to many successive generations of athletes," Czech Olympic Committee president and IOC member Jiri Kejval tells Around the Rings.

"Throughout her life she had a great affinity towards athletes of all generations, for the Olympic Movement and for sport in general."

Her husband Emil also won the 10,000 meters and marathon at the Helsinki Olympic Games, an astounding triple gold medal performance in the athletics distance events, a feat that probably will never be matched.

Dana and Emil became one of the world’s most famous sporting couples. They met in 1948, when Zátopková, qualified for the London Olympics and Zatopek congratulated her. The romance blossomed and two months after the London Games they were married. The marriage lasted 52 years, until Zatopek’s death in 2000. Zátopková, and Zátopek were born on the same day, September 19, 1922.

"Emil and I shared many beautiful years together," reminisced Dana Zátopková a few years ago. "I most value the fact that we always made each other laugh. We had so much fun and frequently we literally rolled about laughing. These are very fond memories."

"Her marriage to Emil Zatopek made them a celebrity couple, not just within Czechoslovakia, but across the globe," Kejval said. " They lived through very difficult times, and the position they took on the Warsaw Pact occupation in 1968 resulted in their banishment from the official sports scene. Even books about them were removed from libraries across the nation."

Kejval said that amends were made with Zatopkova in the lead-up to the 2016 Rio Olympics through the publication of several books about their lives, including Dana’s autobiography.

"The story of Emil and Dana has been inspiring athletes around the world for decades now, and I’m sure that this story will live on for generations to come," the Czech NOC president said.

Zátopková, also won the 1954 and 1958 European championships and broke the Czechoslovak javelin record 17 times, paving the way for future Czech Olympic javelin champions Jan Zelezny and Barbora Špotáková.

The Czechoslovak javelin icon remained involved in sport after her competitive retirement in 1962. She took up coaching and in the years 1960-1972 was a member of the women’s commission of the International Athletics Federation.

"Well into her nineties Dana remained fit and active, and maintained close contact with Czech sport and Olympism," Kejval said. "Her favorite talisman was the necklace she wore in the shape of the Olympic Rings.

"She dedicated all her life to sport and sports people and, for her, sport and fair play always went hand-in-hand."

Written by Brian Pinelli

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