Thirty years after their epic 10,000m, and the highly symbolic victory lap, Derartu Tulu – the first black African woman to win an Olympic gold medal – and Elana Meyer – who won the first medal for South African when they were re-admitted to the Olympic Games in 1992 after a ban lasting 32 years – met again today in Barcelona.
Elana Meyer donated to the Museu Olimpic I de l’Esport Joan Antoni Samaranch the neutral flag with which she ran the legendary that “26th lap”, which was to be the defining moment of the Barcelona 1992 Games.
Both athletes signed the flag, and Elana wrote on it:
The symbol of the power of the values of the Olympics!
Friendships, Peace, Perseverance
Those moments of deep friendship, of building bridges and spontaneous connection through sport were on show in Barcelona in 2022 just as they were in 1992.
