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From the ArchivesEmil Zátopek: a Czech sporting hero
The early 1950s in Czechoslovakia was a bleak period in the country’s
history, but there was also some escape from politics. In 1952 the Summer
Olympics were held in the Finnish capital Helsinki and the undisputed hero
of the games was the greatest Czech runner of all time, Emil Zátopek.
Despite his extraordinary style, with his face contorted, his head and
torso swinging, and emitting sounds that earned him the nickname of “the
Czech locomotive”, he went to Helsinki having already twice broken the
world record over 20 kilometres. His dream at the Olympics was to win two
gold medals: in the 5,000 and 10,000 metres. Czechoslovak Radio’s Bohuš
Ujček and Vítězslav Mokroš were there to report on the event. More
From the ArchivesEmil Zátopek: a Czech sporting hero
The early 1950s in Czechoslovakia was a bleak period in the country’s
history, but there was also some escape from politics. In 1952 the Summer
Olympics were held in the Finnish capital Helsinki and the undisputed hero
of the games was the greatest Czech runner of all time, Emil Zátopek.
Despite his extraordinary style, with his face contorted, his head and
torso swinging, and emitting sounds that earned him the nickname of “the
Czech locomotive”, he went to Helsinki having already twice broken the
world record over 20 kilometres. His dream at the Olympics was to win two
gold medals: in the 5,000 and 10,000 metres. Czechoslovak Radio’s Bohuš
Ujček and Vítězslav Mokroš were there to report on the event.
More
MailboxMailbox
Today in Mailbox: sausage stands on Wenceslas Square in Prague, the number
of letters and e-mails Radio Prague receives annually, the highest mountain
in the Czech Republic, the 17th-century Prague opera diva Josephina Dušek.
Listeners quoted: Mark Guy, Mostafa Kamal, Sanusi Isah Dankaba, Ashraful
Islam, Vinc Wesley Dusek, Greg MacDonald.
More
SpecialOlga Fikotová-Connolly: 1956 Olympic champion dubbed “traitor” in communist Czechoslovakia over romance with US athlete
Olga Fikotová won gold in the discus at the Olympic Games in 1956, less
than two years after taking up the discipline. At the Olympics she met and
fell in love with an American athlete, Harold Connolly. Back home in
Czechoslovakia, their romance overshadowed her stunning success, with Olga
accused of being a traitor by the communist authorities. Marriage to Harold
spelled the end of her career as a Czechoslovak athlete, though she went on
to represent the US at four Olympic Games. Olga Fikotová-Connolly is our
guest in this special programme.
More
MailboxMailbox
This week in Mailbox: Marathons in the Czech Republic; rent control;
Science in the Streets project; RP on shortwave and the mysterious
presenter Petr Skala; a look back at the annual listeners' competition.
Listerners quoted: Teodor Shepertycki, Canada; Mark Coviello, Chris Krug,
Mary Lou Krenek, US; Mukesh N. Tekwani, India; James Garvin, Northern
Ireland.
More
Czechs in HistoryA brief look at the history of the Czech Olympic movement
All of us are familiar with the Olympics and many moments of sweet
victory, captured in time, that slowly form part of the patchwork of
nations' collective identities. There are Czechs who will never forget the
feats of runners like Emil Zatopek and his triple triumph in Helsinki.
"Less than 200 metres to go it's Zatopek in front! Zatopek
wins...what a beautiful race!" Others will always remember gymnast
Vera Caslavska's seven gold. More
Current AffairsCzech victories in Olympics of the past
Czechs can take pride in the fact that they were among the pioneers of the
modern Olympic movement. Although they missed the first games in 1896,
they did take part in Paris in 1900 - thanks in no small part to the work
of Jiri Guth, the founder of the Czech Olympic Committee and a close
friend of Pierre de Coubertin. At that time they were still part of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire. Since then Czech athletes have come a very long
way indeed. We now look back at some memorable Czech moments in Olympic
history gone by. More
Sports NewsSports News
A statue of the legendary Czech long-distance runner Emil Zatopek has just
been erected in a very fitting location - the garden of the Olympic Museum
in Lausanne, Switzerland. We hear from his widow Dana Zatopkova, and the
greatest Czech athlete of the modern age, Jan Zelezny. Also in Sports
News, AC Milan are reportedly interested in Slavia's Stepan Vachosek and
Jiri Novak says he will play at tennis's Paris Masters, despite an injury.
More
Czechs Today Dana Zatopkova - 50 years after Helsinki Olympics
Recently, the Czech team from the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games got together
to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the event. Among those present was
the gold-winning javelin-thrower from Helsinki, Dana Zatopkova, who
celebrated her 80th birthday in September. In this week's Profile we look
at Dana Zatopkova's sporting career and her life with her, now deceased,
husband Emil.
More
