Josef Odložil (; 11 November 1938 – 10 September 1993) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

middle-distance runner. During the 1960s he was a national champion on numerous occasions but had mixed success at international level.Josef Odložil
Sports Reference. Retrieved on 1 February 2015. He won a silver medal in the 1500 metres at the

1964 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequ ...

Running career

An avid runner since early age, Odložil began training with a coach at a military school in Bratislava. At his first major competition, the 1962 European Athletics Championships in Belgrade, Odložil was eliminated in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of a ...

semi-final. Two years later he ran

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

in Tokyo. Peter Snell easily won the final, but Odložil managed to get silver ahead of John Davies. In 1965 Odložil set a new world record on 2000 m (5:01,2). The

1966 European Athletics Championships The 8th European Athletics Championships were held from 30 August to 4 September 1966 in the Stadium Puskás Ferenc, Nép Stadium in Budapest, Hungarian People's Republic, Hungary. Contemporaneous reports on the event were given in the Glasgow Hera ...

were disastrous for Odložil as he was eliminated already in the heats. He did better at the 1967 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Prague, taking silver in the 1500 m, but at the 1968 Olympics finished only eighth in the 1500 m. Odložil retired in 1969.

Retirement

After retiring from competitions Odložil, a career military officer, was also forced to retire from the

Czechoslovak Army The Czechoslovak Army (Czech and Slovak: ''Československá armáda'') was the name of the armed forces of Czechoslovakia. It was established in 1918 following Czechoslovakia's declaration of independence from Austria-Hungary. History In t ...

, for political reasons. He turned into coaching, first at ''Sparta Prague'' and then at the Institutio Nacional del Deporte in Mexico (1979–1981). In 1989 he was reinstated in the Army, and served there until his death. In 1992–1993 he was commander of UN peacekeepers in Iraq ( UNGCI) representing Czechoslovakia.

Personal life and death

At the 1964 Olympics Odložil became a close friend of the winner, Peter Snell, and after the Olympics visited him in New Zealand. Shortly after the 1968 Olympics, Odložil married the famous gymnast Věra Čáslavská. The ceremony, which took place at the Mexico City Cathedral, drew a crowd of thousands. The couple had a son, Martin, and daughter, Radka. They divorced in 1987. On 7 August 1993 Odložil had a quarrel with his 19-year-old son. Martin hit him in the head, which resulted in a prolonged coma and death on 10 September 1993. Martin was sentenced to four years of imprisonment for his father's murder, but was granted a pardon by president

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and dissident. Havel served as the last List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until 1992, prior to the dissol ...

in 1997, because the degree of fault on his father's death was not well proven.

Legacy

Since 1994 an athletic meet Josef Odložil Memorial is held annually in his memory.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Odlozil, Josef 1938 births 1993 deaths People from Otrokovice Czechoslovak Army officers Czechoslovak male middle-distance runners Czech male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes for Czechoslovakia Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Czechoslovakia Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in the Czech Republic Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games silver medalists for Czechoslovakia Athletes from the Zlín Region Czechoslovak Athletics Championships winners