The Czech athlete won his races by holding his breath and managed to be a four-time Olympic champion.

The key to the success of the Czechoslovak athlete, Emil Zátopek, was in his rigorous training and in the iconic way he prepared for competitions, which led him to become a legend in athletics.

He not only earned this title for his four Olympic golds and one silver, but also because during his sports career he achieved 18 world records in nine different specialties.

Everything started when he worked for a shoe factory, a company that sponsored a race every year, and because of this, employees were obliged to participate.

To Emil's surprise, he managed to come in second, and because of this, he felt a great drive and passion for athletics, which led him to want to participate in other races. 

Days later, he was already creating his own preparation method, where he discovered hyperventilation training, which consists of increasing carbon dioxide levels in the blood through breathing pauses, taking advantage of the Bohr effect, meaning he would stop breathing for short periods of time.

Thanks to this, he achieved an increase in red blood cell production, a maximum increase in maximum oxygen volume, and a higher lactate threshold.

The beginning of his legacy started at the 1948 Olympic Games, where he won silver in the 5,000 meters and gold in the 10,000 meters.

 After this, in his second Olympics in 1952, in one week he won gold in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters, but he did not stop there, as he also concluded his iconic participation by taking gold and an Olympic record in the marathon, the most surprising thing about this was that he won the medal while running the marathon for the first time. Due to these great achievements, he was called "The Human Locomotive."