At ten minutes to seven, on a dark, cool, evening in Mexico City in 1968,John Stephen Arkwari of Tanzania, painfully hobbled into the Olympic stadium-the last to finish the marathon.
The winner had already been crowned, and the victory ceremony was long finished. So, the stadium was almost as empty as Arkwari was. His leg bloody, and bandaged, he struggled to circle the track to the finish line.
Documentary film-maker, Bud Greenspan, watched from a distance. Then,intrigued, Greenspan walked over to Arkwari and asked why he had continued the grueling struggle to the finish line even after injury.
The young man from Tanzania answered softly, 'My country did not send me 9,000 miles to start the race. They sent me 9,000 miles to finish the
race.'