The Most Incredible Final Lap in Olympic Marathon History | Strangest Moments

The Olympic marathon affords its runners at least one moment of glory. After more than 25 miles of punishment along city streets - that's more than 40,000 metres - the final lap of the race takes place inside the Olympic Stadium. When an athlete arrives at the stadium and hears the roar of the crowd, the pain and the suffering becomes worthwhile. Amazingly, the 1984 Marathon in Los Angeles was the first time that moment of glory could be experienced by female athletes. Before the 1984 Games, the longest race available for women was the 1,500 metres. Women had been barred from track-and-field competition altogether until 1928, where the 800 metres was the longest race they were permitted to run. Olympic officials considered long-distance running to be too demanding for women. The Los Angeles marathon was a huge step towards equality, and the crowd knew it. The noise that greeted the USA's Joan Benoit as she entered the stadium, becoming the first female marathon winner in history, was spine-tingling. She won by nearly a minute and a half. But not everyone came bursting into the stadium riding a crest of adrenaline. Here, for instance, is how Gabriela Andersen-Schiess of Switzerland entered the Los Angeles Coliseum on August 5th 1984. Just look at her go. OK, perhaps Andersen-Schiess is not the best example of record-breaking speed, but the performance of this 39-year-old Swiss athlete is far more memorable than anything even the winner managed that day. Despite battling heat exhaustion, and seemingly on the brink of complete physical collapse, she got around the course. Sometimes, one lap of the track can seem like a very long way to go. The crowd in the stadium sensed that it was seeing something special. It stood to applaud her every uncertain step. Marathons are never easy, but this one was brutal. The race had started that day in Santa Monica, with temperatures of around 19 degrees Celsius. But by the time the race ended, it was up around 25 degrees. But more troubling than that was the humidity - that was climbing close to 95%. Andersen-Schiess later admitted that she didn't acclimatise properly to the conditions in Los Angeles. Crucially, she missed the last aid station before getting to the stadium. She failed to take on water when her body needed it most. By the time she arrived to the stadium, a staggering bundle of agony, Joan Benoit had been the champion for about 20 minutes. Benoit ran way ahead of the pack after about 15km and never looked back. When Andersen-Schiess appeared, she was running on willpower alone. Medics immediately ran to her aid, but Andersen-Schiess shooed them away - if they gave her assistance she would be disqualified. It was no idle threat - there was precedent. Italy's Dorando Pietri had his gold medal revoked in 1908, when he had been helped across the line. Andersen-Schiess didn't have a gold medal at stake but her pride was on the line. The medics saw that Andersen-Schiess was still perspiring, which was a good thing. It meant she did not have heat stroke. The medical situation was not as dire as might be feared. They allowed her to make her journey to the finish line unassisted. When she got to the line after 5 minutes and 44 seconds on the track, Andersen-Schiess finally broke down. Her time of 2 hours 48 minutes and 44 seconds placed her 37th of the 44 runners who finished. It wasn't gold-medal pace, but it was something to be proud of. Few performances have ever represented the spirit of competition, determination and grit as much as that lap by Gabriela Andersen-Schiess, and it made a mockery of the old idea that female athletes lacked the heart and the willpower to take on the toughest long-distance challenge of all.

Channel: Olympics

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Keywords: Olympic Games, Olympics, IOC, Sport, Champion, dedication, Anderson-Schiess, Gabriela, Los Angeles, LA, Summer Games, marathon, 1984, LA 1984, games, summer, digs deep, Swiss, switzerland, track, track and field, ألعاب القوى, 田径, Athlétisme, Leichtathletik, Atletica, 陸上競技, 육상, Atletismo, Легкая атлетика, Athletics, adversity, struggle, strength, Strangest Moments, weird, wild, crazy, awesome, PLStrangeMoments, yt:cc=on

Id: HWtY7Maqwts

Length: 5min 6sec (306 seconds)

Published: Sat May 19 2018