Category: True Life Stories

Remember Emil Zatopek, the greatest runner of all time? While turning his life-story into a movie script, I analyzed his running ‘rituals’ (AKA habits). Emil Zapotek was ordinary in ‘every’ way. He measured five foot seven on tiptoes and weighed 145 pounds, soaking wet! He possessed little natural talent, and his running style was hopelessly unorthodox. Sportswriters said he ran like a man “who had been stabbed in the heart,” “a man who had scorpions in his shoes,” “a man who was wrestling an octopus on a conveyor belt”! That didn’t keep “the Czech Locomotive” from doing what (I believe) will never be done again.

Emil Zatopek won triple golds in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, setting Olympic records in the 5,000 meter, 10,000 meter and (26.2 mile) marathon. From 1949 to 1951, he won 69 consecutive races. That may be more impressive than UCLA’s 88 game winning streak (as it was single-handed…or is that -footed?)! And he would end his career (of 18 years of competition) 18 world records (do the math and that’s an average of one per year)!

How did Emil do what he did? His 1951 military file highlighted one defining characteristic: ‘doggedness’. Many runners were faster than Emil-but no one trained longer or harder or smarter. He never stopped setting stretch goals, always trying to beat his past, personal best. He took pride in his accomplishments but he also made an admission: “Whoever surpasses my training will also break my records.

While on sentry duty, Emil would run in place in combat boots for hours. embodied kaizen. During training runs, he would wear a gas mask to deprive himself of oxygen. He often carried his wife, Dana, on his back or pulled her through the snow on a sled. He may not have invented interval training-but he certainly re-invented it! And Emil ran so hard for so long that he passed out on the track more than once! “You cannot jump to the second floor from the pavement,” he said. “Step by step, though, a man will come to the fifth floor.

At this point, you might be wondering why so few people have heard of Emil Zatopek. In November 1969, he was sent to the uranium mines for courageously resisting Soviet occupation (in Czechosloavkia)  “I have already got to know the workld from on high,” he said. “Now I am getting to know it from down below.” Emil would spend the next 5 years doing forced (slave) labor.

The Communist regime did all they could to erase Emil Zatopek’s name from history. His name was removed from the stadium in his hometown of Kopfivnice. His athletic accomplishments were deleted from textbooks. They tried to bury him 150 meters below ground in a uranium mine but Emil’s legacy outlasted the Soviet Union itself! His athletic achievements merit the silver screen (indeed). Even more, his uncompromising character deserves to be celebrated (by everyone).

We love success stories like his. The sacrifices that made them possible—not so much! We want success without sacrifice, but it doesn’t work that way. At the heart of every success story is someone who was willing to make sacrifices that no one else was willing to make. Success will not be shortchanged, and it never goes on sale.

One of the hardest pills to swallow in the Gospels is this one: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.” The best decision you can make for yourself is to make a decision against yourself. It’s discipling yourself to do the right things day-in and day-out, week-in and week-out, year-in and year-out. If you pay the price, the payoff will be far greater than the sacrifices you made. Mark Batterson, Win the Day, ppg 123-125.