Quotes by Emil Zatopek

About Emil Zatopek:

Emil Zátopek was a Czechoslovak long-distance runner best known for winning three gold medals at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He won gold in the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres runs, but his final medal came when he decided at the last minute to compete in the first marathon of his life. He was nicknamed the "Czech Locomotive".
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

The athlete of today is not an athlete alone. He's the center of a team - doctors, scientists, coaches, agents and so on.

Emil Zatopek

If one can stick to the training throughout the many long years, then will power is no longer a problem. It's raining? That doesn't matter. I am tired? That's besides the point. It's simply that I just have to.

Emil Zatopek

If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon.

Emil Zatopek

We are different, in essence, from other men. If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon.

Emil Zatopek

A runner must run with dreams in his heart, not money in his pocket.

Emil Zatopek

An athlete cannot run with money in his pockets. He must run with hope in his heart and dreams in his head.

Emil Zatopek

There is a great advantage in training under unfavorable conditions. It is better to train under bad conditions, for the difference is then a tremendous relief in a race.

Emil Zatopek

Great is the victory, but the friendship of all is greater.

Emil Zatopek

My running was very simple; it was out of myself.

Emil Zatopek

To boast of a performance which I cannot beat is merely stupid vanity. And if I can beat it that means there is nothing special about it. What has passed is already finished with. What I find more interesting is what is still to come.

Emil Zatopek

What has passed is already finished with. What I find more interesting is what is still to come.

Emil Zatopek

When I was young, I was too slow. I thought I must learn to run fast by practicing to run fast, so I ran 100 meters fast 20 times. Then I came back, slow, slow, slow.

Emil Zatopek

Why should I practice running slow? I already know how to run slow. I want to learn to run fast.

Emil Zatopek

You can't climb up to the second floor without a ladder. When you set your aim too high and don't fulfill it, then your enthusiasm turns to bitterness. Try for a goal that's reasonable, and then gradually raise it.

Emil Zatopek

It's at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys.

Emil Zatopek

Men, today we die a little.

Emil Zatopek

Author Bio

  • NameEmil Zatopek
  • DescriptionCzech Olympic long-distance runner
  • BornSeptember 19, 1922
  • DiedNovember 22, 2000
  • CountryCzechoslovakia
  • ProfessionSportsperson; Marathon Runner; Long-distance Runner
  • AwardsMedal Of Merit; Pierre De Coubertin Medal