Who is John Stephen Akhwari who ran in the Mexico City Olympics?

Answer 1

He was a Tanzanian athlete who ran the marathon at the 1968 Games in Mexico City. During the race he fell and severely cut and injured his right knee. Instead of dropping out, since he no longer had a chance to win a medal, he trudged on, limping noticably. He would alternate trotting and walking. The winner of the marathon, Mamo Walde of Ethiopia, finished in 2:20:26. Akhwari finished in 3:25:27, more than an hour after the winner, when there were only a few thousand people left in the Olympic Stadium and the sun had set. 17 of the 74 competitors in the marathon that day did not finish the race. John Stephen Akhwari, bloodied and injured, was not one of them. Click on the 'John Stephen Akhwari' link below to see a video of him entering the Stadium and finishing the marathon in the 1968 Games.