John Stephen Akhwari finished last in the 1968 Olympic marathon. More than an hour had passed since the winner crossed the line, but the Tanzanian runner's painful journey would become one of the race's most remembered stories.
On October 20, 1968, Akhwari reached the finish in Mexico City after an injury left him struggling to move. His placing was 57th. His determination gave that number a meaning the results table could never fully capture.
A race that became a struggle to finish
The marathon covered 42.195 kilometers, starting at the Zócalo and ending at the Estadio Olímpico Universitario. Mexico City's altitude added another challenge: the city sits roughly 2,240 meters above sea level. Seventy-five runners started the race. Olympedia's event record documents the course and results.
For Akhwari, an injury changed the task ahead. With his knee bandaged, he pressed on, walking and limping through the final miles. Olympedia's biography describes his refusal to abandon the race.
Last among the finishers
Ethiopia's Mamo Wolde won in 2 hours, 20 minutes and 26.4 seconds. Akhwari's recorded time was 3 hours, 25 minutes and 17 seconds—a gap of about 65 minutes.
Of the 75 starters, 57 finished and 18 did not. Akhwari was the final finisher, according to the race results.
By his arrival, darkness had fallen and the stadium was nearly empty. Yet people remained to welcome him. The International Olympic Committee's Olympic Values Education Programme recounts the cheers that greeted the injured runner.
The words that outlasted the race
Asked why he had continued, Akhwari gave an answer that became closely tied to his story. Olympedia records this wording in its account of filmmaker Bud Greenspan's coverage:
“My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race; they sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race.”
The IOC's educational account uses slightly different wording, while preserving the same message: Akhwari felt he had come to complete the marathon.
More than a single Olympic moment
Akhwari's sporting career extended beyond that difficult evening. He later placed fifth in the marathon at the 1970 Commonwealth Games. His story also became part of the IOC's teaching materials about Olympic values.
It is easy to read a race from the top of the results sheet down. Akhwari's finish invites us to pause at the other end.
He left Mexico City without a medal. Decades later, the image of a bandaged runner completing his final steps still gives people a reason to remember his name.
Photograph credits
These photographs show the actual finishing stadium in later years.
- 2023 aerial photograph: ProtoplasmaKid / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized.
- 2008 stadium photograph: Nortonvonwerl / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0.
