Emil Zátopek

Emil Zátopek was born on 19 September 1922 in what would become the Czech Republic. After World War II he popularised interval training and became known for brutally tough preparation methods that earned him the nickname "the Czech Locomotive". In 1951 he broke the hour barrier for 20 km; three years later, in 1954, he became the first runner to crack 29 minutes in the 10,000 metres. But Helsinki in July 1952 was the apex: he won the 10,000 on the 20th, the 5,000 on the 24th, then decided at the last minute to run the marathon on the 27th — a distance he'd never attempted — and won that as wel…