04/24/2024
Dead last.
It would be one of the slowest marathons ever by a world-class runner. But that’s not exactly what would characterize this Olympic race. In fact, years later, the actual winner of this prestigious event might fade from memory because of the amazing feat performed by the final runner to cross the finish line.
As a trained Tanzanian marathoner, John Steven was never picked as a real contender for the prize but was in the cream of the crop of the world’s best distance runners. However, on that warm summer day in the high altitude of Mexico City, he experienced severe cramps midway in the elite event. Shortly after that, he became tangled amongst a tight pack of runners, only to trip and hit the hard pavement, injuring his knee and scraping a shoulder badly. As onlookers knew for sure he was done for the day, he limped toward a medical tent and after being cleaned and bandaged, resumed the arduous race he had begun.
Later, as the audience in the huge stadium was about to filter out assuming all of the marathoners had come through, a low, rumbling noise of the crowd began to grow, as the bloodied, limping last runner entered the arena and onto the track to complete the last quarter mile. As he labored to run the final lap, the remaining spectators rose to their feet in a raucous applause, watching him finally cross the finish line, over an hour after the winner had accepted the medal. His head was hung low as he finished, in spite of the standing ovation the remaining crowd offered him. A short time latter, he was asked why he had bothered to complete the marathon after being injured and having such a disastrous race. His answer would go down in the annals of sports history as one of the grittiest responses ever.
“My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race,” he said. “They sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race.”