The Story of the 1968 Olympic Last Place Marathoner

With all the olympic hype this month, I'd like to share a story of the 1968 Olympic last place marathon finisher.

In the year 1968 (I wasn't alive yet), as the Olympic awarding has just finished and everybody was about to pack their things and leave, the announcer began asking everyone to remain as the last runner, bloodied and limpingly entered the stadium. He was welcomed with a standing ovation. His name is John Stephen Akhwari from Tanzania. It was early on the race when John Stephen Akhwari had a terrible fall were he hit his head and broke his knee. Amidst all the circumstance, he never stopped running and limping to the finish line.

When asked why he never stopped. He said this famous line "My country did not sent me over 11,000KM to start the race, but to finish it".

This man was not the fastest nor the strongest runner, but many remembers his name until today because of his perseverance. Very few could even remember the first place finisher.

Here is a youtube link of his run: 1968 Last Place Marathoner