Today We Die a Little!: The Inimitable Emil Zatopek, the Greatest Olympic Runner of All Time, Hardcover/Richard Askwith
Descriere
"We are different, in essence, from other men. If you want to enjoy something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon." --Emil Zatopek For a decade after the Second World War, Emil Zatopek--"the Czech locomotive"--redefined the sport of distance running, pushing back the frontiers of what was considered possible. He won five Olympic medals, set eighteen world records, and went undefeated in the 10, 000-metre race for six years. His dominance has never been equaled. In the darkest days of the Cold War, he stood for a spirit of generous friendship that transcended nationality and politics. Zatopek was an energetic supporter of the Prague Spring in 1968, championing "socialism with a human face" in Czechoslovakia. But for this he paid a high price. After the uprising was crushed by Soviet tanks, the hardline Communists had their revenge. Zatopek was expelled from the army, stripped of his role in national sport, and condemned to years of hard and degrading manual labor. Based on extensive research in the Czech Republic, interviews with people across the world who knew him, and unprecedented cooperation from his widow, fellow Olympian Dana Zatopkova, journalist Richard Askwith's book breathes new life into the man and the myth, uncovering a glorious age of athletics and an epoch-defining time in world history.
Despre autor
Richard Askwith este un jurnalist și autor britanic. Este cel mai bine cunoscut pentru cartul de cult din 2004 despre alergarea în munte, „Feet in the Clouds”, care i-a adus Premiul pentru Cel Mai Bun Scriitor Nou la Premiile pentru Cărți Sportive. Cartul a fost, de asemenea, nominalizat pentru Premiul William Hill pentru Cartul Sportiv al Anului și pentru Premiul Boardman Tasker pentru Literatură de Munte.
