Josef Odložil

Josef Odložil was a middle-distance runner who competed in the Olympic 1,500 metres in both 1964 and 1968. In 1964 he won a silver medal behind the heavy favorite, Peter Snell. Odložil’s first major international was the 1962 European Championship, in which he ran the 800 metres, but failed to make the final. He won another silver medal at the 1967 Europeans. At the end of the Mexico City Olympics, Odložil married the famed Czechoslovak gymnast Věra Čáslavská, although they would divorce in 1987.

Odložil retired from competition in 1969 and became a military officer. However, political constraints forced him to leave the military and he went into coaching, first at Sparta Praha and then from 1979-81 in Mexico. Odložil was reinstated to the Army in 1989 and stayed there until his death. In 1992-93, he commanded the Czechoslovak regiment of the UN peacekeepers in Iraq.

On 7 August 1993 Odložil had an argument with his 19-year-old son, Martin, who hit him in the head, which caused a brain injury and Josef Odložil went into a coma. He never recovered and died shortly over a month later. His son was sentenced to four years in prison but the sentence was commuted by Czech President Václav Havel. In Odložil’s memory, the Josef Odložil Memorial athletic meet has been held annually since 1994.

Personal Best: 1500 – 3:37.6 (1966).