"Negara saya sebuah negara yang miskin. Saya dihantar ke sini (Olimpik) dengan dua matlamat, bukan untuk mengambil bahagian sahaja, tetapi juga untuk menamatkan larian saya. Memenangi pingat impian setiap orang. Namun menunaikan amanah negara jauh lebih penting, kerana itu sahaja yang kami ada - SEMANGAT."
Akhwari tercedera di pertengahan Marathon, tetapi terus berjalan terhincut-hincut hingga ke garisan penamat dan diberi tepukan gemuruh. Baginya semangat Olimpik dan tanggungjawab pada negara menghalang untuk terus 'berlari' dan sesungguhnya dia tidak mahu memalukan negaranya. Ini adalah perjalanan sebenar bagi seorang wira.
1968 marathon in Mexico City when Tanzanian John Stephen Ahkwari hobbled home an hour and a half after the winner with his leg bloodied and bandaged. Asked why he had kept going to the finish, he famously replied:
"My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start a race. They sent me 5,000 miles to finish it."
Am amazing performance. The true spirit of the games, and his comment about being sent to the games to finish the race, not just to start it, shows what true sportsmanship is all about. In this era of pampered so called sports stars whining and demanding more, one man symbolizes what sports should be about. He may not have won a medal, but he is greatest olympian, period...
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