Zatopek in critical condition

Four times Olympic gold medallist Emil Zatopek remains in a critical condition in hospital, though some of the side effects of a stroke suffered late last month have eased slightly, doctors said on Wednesday.

Doctors at the Prague Central Military hospital said that despite the slight improvement the 78-year-old Czech Olympic hero remained in the intensive care wing where he has been since October 30.

The daily Mlada Fronta Dnes quoted Zatopek's wife, Dana, also an Olympic gold medallist, as saying the long-distance runner was still unconscious.

"He doesn't answer me and doesn't register me at all. He has his eyes closed and it's useless to try to wake him to life. But his heart is still working quite well," she said.

"He no longer has a temperature, his pneumonia has gone, it's the only optimistic piece of news."

This is the third, and most serious, time this year that Zatopek has been admitted to hospital. In September he was taken to hospital suffering from pneumonia and he broke a hip earlier this year.

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.

His marathon victory was particularly noteworthy. On his debut, Zatopek demoralised his rivals by casually inquiring if the pace was fast enough before going on to win by 700 metres.

Zatopek was expelled from the army and the Communist party for supporting the 1968 democratic movement known as the Prague Spring but was eventually rehired by the Ministry of Sport until he retired in 1982.