At ten minutes to seven on a dark, cool evening in Mexico City in 1968, John Stephen Arkari of Tanzania painfully hobbled into the Olympic Stadium - the last to finish in the marathon.
The winner had already been crowned and the victory ceremony was long finished. So the stadium was almost empty as Arkwari, alone, his leg bloody and bandaged, struggled to circle the track to the finish line. The respected documentary, Bud Greenspan, watched from a distance. Then, intrigued, Bud walked over to Arkwari and asked why he continued the grueling struggle to the finish line.
The young man from Tanzania answered softly, "My country did not send me nine thousand miles to start the race. They sent me nine thousand miles to finish the race."
Vietnamese version
