Many an athlete, once past his prime, proves unable to hold on to a job or his dignity. Emil Zátopek, 47, Czechoslovakia's four-time Olympic Gold Medal winner for long-distance running, has recently lost one job after another but not his dignity.
An enthusiastic supporter of Alexander Dubček and his liberal reforms of 1968, Zátopek has refused to recant. After the Soviet invasion, the lanky athlete repeatedly reaffirmed his loyalty to Dubček. Before long, he was expelled from the Czechoslovak army (in which he had the rank of colonel), pushed out of his job as an athletic trainer and thrown out of...
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