The Man Who Finished

On the evening of October 20, 1968, the Olympic marathon in Mexico City was long over. Mamo Wolde of Ethiopia had crossed the finish line more than an hour earlier. The medal ceremony was done. The stadium had nearly emptied. Then the sound of police sirens echoed through the tunnel entrance, and a lone figure emerged onto the track. John Stephen Akhwari of Tanzania limped into the Estadio Olimpico with his right leg wrapped in bloody bandages.…