The perils and perks of being an elite athlete in socialist Czechoslovakia provide the backdrop for this engaging biopic of Emil Zátopek (Václav Neužil), a humble boy from Kopřivnice who becomes his country’s greatest Olympian. Zátopek’s on-the-track talent first becomes apparent when he’s forced into a race by his supervisor from the Bata shoe factory in Zlín. A brave, charming and eccentric man of indomitable willpower, Zátopek becomes a favorite of the media who delight in his quips. When he’s asked, “What do you do when you just can’t go on?” he replies, “When I can’t go on, I go harder.” The film also traces one of the great love stories in sports, between Zátopek and his compatriot, the tart-tongued javelin thrower Dana Ingrová (convincingly performed by the formidable Martha Issová).