Gabriele Andersen-Schiess Exclusive: 'You give everything you have' - Olympian remembers dramatic 1984 marathon finish

The Olympic spirit is an often invoked but difficult to define part of the legend of the Games, but few athletes better embody that spirit than Gabriele Andersen-Schiess. She has spoken to Eurosport exclusively to tell the story of that dramatic day in 1984 for the latest episode of The Power Of Sport. August 5th, 1984 dawned relatively cool for Los Angeles in the dog days of summer and the temperature was only a moderate 68°F (20°C) when the women's Olympic marathon began.

A field of 50 set off from Santa Monica College. Among them was the Swiss-American Andersen-Scheiss. Ad Speaking to Eurosport 39 years later Andersen-Schiess remembers her thinking.

Olympics‘We will do well’ — Pedri looking forward to life under new Spain coach De la Fuente24/03/2023 AT 19:11 «I was nervous, like everybody else» she says, «but I was always more worried about the heat and the humidity, so my strategy was to go out rather conservatively.» The day began to heat up as the runners snaked along the course. «The first part wasn't so bad, because there was some trees» the then-39-year-old remembers, «the worst was when we got on the freeway because then the heat just radiates from the pavement.» Andersen-Schiess continued, but missed the final water station. It proved a crucial error as the heat reached 90°F (32°C) in the shadows of the Coliseum.

As she entered the bowels of the stadium, the Swiss-American enjoyed the temporary relief of being out of the sun but was hit by a wall of bright light as the ran out of the tunnel onto the stadium surface. «Again in that stadium the heat just radiates in.» After having already run so far, those final metres of the race proved brutally difficult. «I really got into trouble.