Track spikes Emil Zatopek, a distance runner from Czech Republic, wore them during the 1952 Olympics in Helesinki. The front of the sole features a rigid or semi-rigid spike plate containing between 3 and 9 threaded holes called spike wells. Spikes can be screwed into each well using a spike wrench. Recently, some individuals have attempted to add a "through hole" at the bottom of the spike to make them easier to tighten, remove, and install. Some shoes have permanent or "fixed" spikes which are not meant to be removed. Spikes may break during competition. Track shoes are exceptionally light, some shoes
Emil Votoček Emil Votoček Emil Votoček (5 October 1872 – 11 October 1950) was a Czech chemist, composer and music theorist. He is noted for his chemistry textbooks and multilingual dictionaries in both chemistry and music. Votoček studied at the Czech Institute of Technology later in Mulhouse and received his PhD with Bernhard Tollens at the University of Göttingen for his chemistry of sugar. In 1895 he returned to the Czech Institute of Technology where he became lecturer and professor in 1907. His academic career ended with the closure of the institute by the Nazis in 1939. He held six honorary doctorates