The last athlete to finish Sunday’s marathon, an hour and a half after the winner, did so to a standing ovation on the final day of the Paris Games.
Kinzang Lhamo, from Bhutan, completed the hilly and hot course in three hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds. She slowed to walking pace at some points, but was cheered on by spectators cycling and running alongside her in the final kilometers.
On the home stretch, fans in the stands in front of the Invalides stood up and cheered her on as she crossed the finish line as the 80th woman to complete the course.
Spectators around the world saw in Lhamo an embodiment of the Olympic spirit – the idea that the Games are not about winning, but about participating.
Lhamo, 26, was taking part in her first international competition and was the Himalayan nation’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony. She was also the only woman in Bhutan’s three-member delegation.
She started running after joining the Bhutanese army. She won the Bhutan Marathon last year and this year, running 3 hours and 26 minutes in March, and finished second in the 2022 Snowman Race, an extreme 203 km (126 mile) race through the Himalayan mountains.
“It has always been one of my dreams to compete on such a stage,” Lhamo said in an interview with Deutsche Welle before her Olympic debut.
“My first goal is to finish the marathon and then beat my personal record,” she said. Although her time on Sunday was slower than her personal best, she did it in style.
For some, Lhamo’s courage and determination in completing the Paris course also brought
Consider the Tanzanian John Stephen Akhwari, who was injured in the 1968 Olympic marathon but still limped to the finish line.
He was asked why he continued, and his answer went down in history.
“My country didn’t send me 5,000 miles to start the race,” he said. “They sent me to finish the race.”
