The Olympic marathon affords its runners
at least one moment of glory.
After more than 25 miles of punishment along city streets -
that's more than 40,000 metres -
the final lap of the race
takes place inside the Olympic Stadium.
When an athlete arrives at the stadium
and hears the roar of the crowd,
the pain and the suffering becomes worthwhile.
Amazingly, the 1984 Marathon in Los Angeles
was the first time
that moment of glory could be experienced by female athletes.
Before the 1984 Games,
the longest race available for women was the 1,500 metres.
Women had been barred
from track-and-field competition altogether
until 1928, where the 800 metres
was the longest race they were permitted to run.
Olympic officials considered long-distance running
to be too demanding for women.
The Los Angeles marathon was a huge step towards equality,
and the crowd knew it.
The noise that greeted the USA's Joan Benoit
as she entered the stadium,
becoming the first female marathon winner in history,
was spine-tingling.
She won by nearly a minute and a half.
But not everyone came bursting into the stadium
riding a crest of adrenaline.
Here, for instance, is how
Gabriela Andersen-Schiess of Switzerland
entered the Los Angeles Coliseum on August 5th 1984.
Just look at her go.
OK, perhaps Andersen-Schiess is not the best example
of record-breaking speed,
but the performance of this 39-year-old Swiss athlete
is far more memorable than anything
even the winner managed that day.
Despite battling heat exhaustion,
and seemingly on the brink of complete physical collapse,
she got around the course.
Sometimes, one lap of the track
can seem like a very long way to go.
The crowd in the stadium sensed
that it was seeing something special.
It stood to applaud her every uncertain step.
Marathons are never easy, but this one was brutal.
The race had started that day in Santa Monica,
with temperatures of around 19 degrees Celsius.
But by the time the race ended, it was up around 25 degrees.
But more troubling than that was the humidity -
that was climbing close to 95%.
Andersen-Schiess later admitted
that she didn't acclimatise properly
to the conditions in Los Angeles.
Crucially, she missed the last aid station
before getting to the stadium.
She failed to take on water when her body needed it most.
By the time she arrived to the stadium,
a staggering bundle of agony,
Joan Benoit had been the champion
for about 20 minutes.
Benoit ran way ahead of the pack after about 15km
and never looked back.
When Andersen-Schiess appeared,
she was running on willpower alone.
Medics immediately ran to her aid,
but Andersen-Schiess shooed them away -
if they gave her assistance she would be disqualified.
It was no idle threat - there was precedent.
Italy's Dorando Pietri had his gold medal revoked in 1908,
when he had been helped across the line.
Andersen-Schiess didn't have a gold medal at stake
but her pride was on the line.
The medics saw that Andersen-Schiess
was still perspiring,
which was a good thing.
It meant she did not have heat stroke.
The medical situation was not as dire as might be feared.
They allowed her to make her journey
to the finish line unassisted.
When she got to the line
after 5 minutes and 44 seconds on the track,
Andersen-Schiess finally broke down.
Her time of 2 hours 48 minutes and 44 seconds
placed her 37th of the 44 runners who finished.
It wasn't gold-medal pace,
but it was something to be proud of.
Few performances have ever represented
the spirit of competition, determination and grit
as much as that lap by Gabriela Andersen-Schiess,
and it made a mockery of the old idea
that female athletes lacked the heart and the willpower
to take on the toughest long-distance challenge of all.