Exercise, says the oldest Czech marathon runner

Stáhnout obrázek
Jiří Soukup was born on the 30th of June 1927 in Prague. As a child he helped his relatives with farming. Before the war his mother registered him in Sokol, and he remained loyal to sport and exercise his entire life. During the Second World War he joined a resistance group under the leadership of Evžen Chroust. During the Prague Uprising he helped with putting down the fire in the Old City Hall. During the February year of 1948 he took part in a student march supporting the president Beneš, due to which he later faced problems with the screening commission. He studied at the College of Agriculture and started working in the Ministry of Agriculture, he joined the communist party. He dedicated himself to sport until an elderly age, another one of his hobbies was painting. In the year 2020 he became the oldest citizen of the Czech Republic who has run a marathon. He died on May 20, 2021.