John Stephen Akhwari (b. 1938 in Mbulu, Tanganyika) was an Olympic athlete at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. He represented Tanzania in the marathon.
During the race he fell, badly cutting his knee and dislocating the joint. Rather than quitting, he continued running. He finished last among the 57 competitors who finished (74 begun the race). The winner of the marathon, Mamo Walde of Ethiopia, finished in 2:20:26, "Akhwari finished in 3:25:27, more than an hour after the winner, when there were only a few thousand people left in the Olympic Stadium and the sun had set. 17 of the 74 competitors in the marathon that day did not finish the race. John Stephen Akhwari, bloodied and injured, was not one of them."[1]
As he finally crossed the finish line the a cheer came from the small crowd. When asked by a reporter why he continued running, he said simply, "My country did not send me to 5,000 miles to Mexico City to start the race. They sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race."
The competition won him the title of "a King without crown."
Akhwari competed for ten years after the 1968 Olympics. He finished fifth in the marathon at the 1970 Commonwealth Games. There was an article written up in Delta Air Lines' Sky Magazine.
"Most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win, but to take part; just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered, but to have fought well." --Olympic Creed--dont just start.kijana ni muhimili wa taifa,
DO YOUR PART.
