Emil Zatopek passes away

Czech runner Emil Zatopek, the only athlete to have won three gold medals in long-distance events at a single Olympic Games, died on Wednesday. He was 78.

A hospital official said the four times Olympic gold medallist -- who also won a silver medal -- died early on Wednesday. He declined to give the cause of death.

Zatopek was hospitalised on October 30 following a stroke and had been in a critical condidtion since then.

Zatopek's finest achievements came at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, when he won the 5,000 and 10,000 metres plus the marathon in the space of eight days, each in Olympic record time.

UNI