A Breathtaking finish between Emil Zátopek and Gaston Reiff in the 5,000m - London 1948 Olympics

📲 Subscribe to @olympics: http://oly.ch/Subscribe

Classic highlights as of the incredible finish between Emil Zátopek and Gaston Reiff in the men's 5,000m at the London 1948 Olympic Games.



In the final of the 5,000m. Trailing by 50m at the start of the final lap, he closed the gap with a stunning sprint finish. But he had to settle for silver finishing just 1.5 metres behind the victor, Gaston Etienne Reiff of Belgium.

Zátopek had a distinctive running style. He would pant and wheeze and would look visibly shattered during a race. This led to him being nicknamed "The Locomotive". When asked about his rather inelegant looking style, he replied: "This isn't gymnastics or ice skating, you know."

Emil Zátopek is the only runner to win the 5,000m, the 10,000m and the marathon at the same Olympic Games at Helsinki 1952. He went undefeated in his first 38 races over 10,000m from 1948 through to 1954, and is recognised as one the greatest runners of all time.

Find more about Emil Zátopek: http://www.olympic.org/emil-zatopek
_____________________________________________________
🇨🇳 #Beijing2022 replays: https://oly.ch/B22Replays
🇯🇵 #Tokyo2020 replays: https://oly.ch/T20Replays
🗞️ News from the Olympic world: https://oly.ch/News