John Stephen Akhwari

Finishing the marathon at Mexico City 1968 John Stephen Akhwari of Tanzania was hobbled by a leg injury, ran on with his knee bandaged, walking and limping through the final miles, and entered the stadium in the dark, more than an hour after the winner. Bud Greenspan's cameras caught it, and asked why he had not stopped, Akhwari said his country had not sent him to start the race but to finish it. He was a genuinely good runner, fifth in the Commonwealth Games marathon two years later, which makes the finish a statement of pride rather than a novelty.