ZCZC
BSP-07
ATHLETICS-CZE-ZATOPKOVA,OBIT
Former Czech Olympic javelin champion Dana Zatopkova dies at 97
PRAGUE, March 13, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Dana Zatopkova, the 1952 Olympic
javelin champion and wife of four-time Olympic champion Emil Zatopek, died at
the age of 97 on Friday, the Czech Olympic Committee said.
“Czech sport has lost one of its greatest personalities,” the Committee
said in a statement.
Besides the gold from the Helsinki Olympics, Zatopkova won the Olympic
silver in Rome in 1960.
In 1958, she set the world record of 55.73 metres at the age of 35. She
became the European champion in 1954 and 1958.
Zatopkova was born on September 19, 1922, and shared the same birthday
with her husband Emil Zatopek, the 1948 Olympic running champion over 10,000
metres, who went on to win the 5000m and 10000m races and the marathon at the
Helsinki games in 1952.
Zatopek died in 2000.
BSS/AFP/BZC/1545HRS