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

Note that she finished 37th of 44 runners. So even after doing a zombie-Frankenstein walk around the track, she still was faster then 7 runners. Wow

the way she was walking looked like she had risen from the dead. she really left everything out there on that course.

My wife and I were there. What happened inside the Coliseum was stunning. EVERYONE was cheering her on.

This made me cry. I found it overwelming seeing a human giving the most of their honor. Respect

She still averaged about 15km/hr. Most people, even people who run regularly, cannot stay at that pace for more than a few minutes. She went at it for 3 hours straight.

I remember watching this live on TV and everyone was cheering for her like mad. This was more than finishing a race, this was about being the first ever marathon for women after so many years of men saying that women couldn't do it. No one remembers the name of the winner, but everyone remembers that one runner that finished no matter what.

According to my parents, this is what they went through on their journey to school

I remember that moment, i was watching it with my father and we stood up and cried. Since then every time my own life marathon gets too hard to go on, i remember her, i watch the video, i take a deep breath and i keep going.

That’s usually how I run my whole marathon.

Her time was still amazing by regular human standards.

I was there at the stadium in 1984 and witnessed the whole thing unfold. Just plain pride, grit and determination got her on that finish line. That was truly inspiring even more so at that time it was happening and still is. It gave me goosebumps watching this video of her in that 1984 Olympics.

The way they cheered for this brave determined woman who ran with so much heart... Pushed herself beyond the limits. Muscles locking up. Heat exhaustion beating on her.. and still crossed that finish line. I couldn’t help getting slightly choked up here. Amazing spirit and a badass woman. Bravo

I remember 84 Olympics, I was crying, cheering her on. Since I was little girl I watched my first summer Olympic games in 72 till this day I love it. I did track an field. My favorite sport. I'm so proud of her.

Even more amazingly, she was 39 years old when she ran this race!

I was at this game!! I was an 11 year old boy when my father took me. We sat close to the front row. When this lady came in and everyone could see her struggling, it was unbelievable what happened next. Everyone, without speaking a word, stood up in unison and cheered this lady to inconceivably will herself all the way to the finish line. She dug deeper than anyone I have ever seen. I have never witnessed anything like this in sports or other venues in life. Spectators from all over the world cheering an individual regardless of the country for whom she ran. It has impacted me to this day. She is my hero. She is up there with the Tank Man and Rosa Parks.

I can't talk smack at all about her, my best marathon is 4 hours 30 minutes. She was nearly 2 hours faster than me. I think I looked like she did only about 5 miles earlier lol

She Is the perfect example of a warrior, it's not simply how far you go, it's how far you go after having emptied the last drop of Energy You have, this is what classifies Heroes.

I'll show this to my coach when he don't allow the team to drink water

She didn't even mention her blood soaked feet! Crazy. What a warrior

So often it isn't just the medallists who inspire us. This reminds me of another Olympic marathon runner from Tanzania, John Stephen Akhari. It was Mexico 1968 and the last day of the Olympics. Due to the high elevation of Mexico city, a climate Mr Akhari had never trained in, he had terrible cramping and had fallen, sustaining injuries to his leg and head. This didn't stop him though. He had his injuries wrapped and he continued the race. He was the last runner to enter the stadium. It was dark and many spectators were heading home. Word got out about this lone runner and people stayed to cheer him on as he came into the stadium. For years after the clip of his lone struggle in the dark was used as an example in sports montages. The pain, courage and determination etched on his face. I hadn't thought of this in a long time but this clip brought back the memory.