105 runners from 68 countries
compete in one final race for gold.
Will his lack of marathon experience
cause Stephen Kiprotich
to run out of gas before he reaches
the Olympic finish line?
Ooh, look at this!
Or can one Olympian's endurance
in the face of unimaginable odds
inject life into the collective spirit of a fatigued nation?
He's worried, obviously, a little bit.
He must be hurting a lot.
Wait for it.
Hi, I'm Nile Wilson, Olympic bronze medalist.
This episode is about a sport
that requires only a pair of shoes
and a lot of stamina.
First Olympic Games of the modern era,
a signature event linking the present to the past...
The marathon begins.
Was the marathon.
Throughout the years,
the winner of the legendary 26-mile race
was typically from Europe or the US.
Until 1960, when a barefoot Abebe Bikila
ran away with the gold.
That set the stage for its new powerhouse,
East Africa.
Running those kinds of distances
takes unimaginable endurance,
just one thing a child born in a farming village
in a strife-filled country, needed plenty of,
just to survive.
And Stephen Kiprotich only saw one possible course
to overcome such difficult circumstances,
and that was running.
You see, in that area of the world,
long-distance runners are heroes.
Kenya and Ethiopia had plenty of success stories.
But Uganda, Stephen's home,
wasn't home to quite as many champions.
Compared to a combined 115 medals by Ethiopia and Kenya,
Uganda had only won six.
And their only gold ever was the 400m hurdles in 1972.
Well the medal will be for the whole team
and for the whole of Uganda.
Now 40 years later,
Stephen managed a way to compete in the Olympics.
But could he find a way to race into history?
That is extraordinary, isn't it?
I wonder whether he can maintain this.
Wait for it.
When Stephen was little,
an epidemic swept through his village
and he picked up the illness,
but managed to find a way to survive.
Despite huge adversity,
Stephen found joy and hope in running.
But in Uganda, there were few places to train.
Neighboring Kenya was a different story.
No nation begins to dominate one event in athletics
like the Kenyans do in marathon running.
When Stephen was 17,
he made the difficult decision to leave his family
and travelled hundreds of miles east to Kenya.
Six years later, Stephen made it to London
to compete in only his fourth marathon ever.
We now have a race down to three.
And the two of them as a team
could work together against the Ugandan.
Wait for it.
Endurance is the ability to push through fatigue,
stress, and adverse conditions.
Like competitors teaming up against you.
An average marathon runner
takes over four hours to complete the course.
These athletes go twice as fast.
That takes a special combo platter
of genetics, training and intangibles.
Very important for Kiprotich to hang on if he possibly can.
Wait for it.
Would he be able to overcome
possibly the biggest obstacle of all time,
the Kenyan runners, and take home the victory?
Stephen had been inspired
by Uganda's only gold medal winner,
John Akii-Bua.
He was renowned for training with weight vests
and using hurdles 6 inches higher than those in the race.
Though Stephen was only a kid when Akii-Bua passed away,
the Ugandan hurdling hero left a lasting impression.
He needed that inspiration if he hoped to keep up.
Oh, look at this!
Wait for it.
Would Stephen bring some much-needed hope
to a country desperately in need for some heroes?
Oh, look at this!
Stephen Kiprotich has caught them
and gone into the lead.
Well, he's looking behind.
Well, he's worried obviously, a little bit.
He must be hurting a lot.
He still looks behind.
There's a nervous look again.
He can't believe that he's done this.
Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda is the Olympic gold medalist.
Very happy that I won a medal for me,
for my country, for my family,
for everybody in Uganda in the world.
Now I say I can, now I can die a champion.
Because the marathon
is the final event in the Olympic Games,
the medals are awarded at the Closing Ceremony.
Representing Uganda, Stephen Kiprotich!
It did seem that this amazing Olympic spectacle
was specifically conceived to celebrate Stephen and Uganda.
40 years after Akii-Bua, Stephen arrived home a hero,
ready to inspire a new generation of Ugandan athletes.
We've reached the finish line of this story
about an amazing person,
but there are more races to be won.
In the meantime, you'll just have to...