Dana Zátopková
Czech javelin thrower (1922–2020)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dana Zátopková (Czech pronunciation: [ˈdana ˈzaːtopkovaː]; née Ingrová [ˈɪŋɡrovaː], 19 September 1922 – 13 March 2020)[1][2][3] was a Czech javelin thrower who won a gold medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics.
Zátopková in 2007 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 19 September 1922 |
| Died | 13 March 2020 (aged 97) |
Medal record | |
Biography
At the 1952 Olympic Games, she won the gold medal in the javelin throw event at the 1952 Summer Olympics (only an hour after her husband, Emil Zátopek, won the 5,000 m),[4] and the silver medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics. She was the European champion in 1954 and 1958.
On 1 June 1958, she became the oldest woman in the sport of athletics to break a world record, aged 35 years, 255 days, when she threw 55.73 metres.[5]
Zátopková and her husband were the witnesses at the wedding ceremony of Olympic gold medalists Olga Fikotová and Harold Connolly in Prague in 1957. Emil spoke to the Czechoslovak president Antonín Zápotocký to request help in Olga getting a permit to marry Connolly. While it is not clear how much this helped, they did receive a permit a few days later.[6]
Achievements
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing  Czechoslovakia | |||||
| 1948 | Olympic Games | London, United Kingdom | 7th | 39.94 m | |
| 1950 | European Championships | Brussels, Belgium | 5th | 41.34 m | |
| 1952 | Olympic Games | Helsinki, Finland | 1st | 50.47 m | |
| 1954 | European Championships | Bern, Switzerland | 1st | 52.91 m | |
| 1956 | Olympic Games | Melbourne, Australia | 4th | 49.83 m | |
| 1958 | European Championships | Stockholm, Sweden | 1st | 56.02 m | |
| 1960 | Olympic Games | Rome, Italy | 2nd | 53.78 m | |
