“It just may be perfect for some of the African runners in particular,” the announcer said 30 years ago, referencing the oppressively hot weather. On Aug. 7, 1992, the women’s 10,000-meter Olympic final took place in Barcelona. It was indeed a scorcher, but the climate was only tangential to the symbolic gendered, racial and geopolitical stakes at play.
Great Britain’s Liz McGolgan, the United States’ Lynn Jennings, South Africa’s Elana Meyer and Ethiopia’s Derartu Tulu all got their close-up before the commentator declared them to be the athletes that will make up “the race.
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