The Victory Lap: 20 Years Later
Ethiopia’s Derartu Tulu made Olympic history that night.
From: NYRR Media
Twenty years ago on a hot night in Barcelona, two women circled the track in Montjuic Stadium on an Olympic victory lap that, in many ways, still goes on.
On August 7, 1992, in the women’s 10,000 meters, Ethiopia’s Derartu Tulu broke from the pack midway through the race to take the lead. Only South Africa’s Elana Meyer gave chase, and soon took over the lead. Lap after lap, Tulu hung on Meyer’s shoulder; at the bell, the young Ethiopian took off to win the gold medal in 31:06.02. Meyer took silver, in 31:11.75.
Together, they had just made history: Tulu, only 20 years old, was the first black African woman to win an Olympic gold medal; Meyer, 25, was the first South African to win an individual medal in her nation’s return to the Olympic family after being excluded since 1960 over its apartheid system. Read more
