Carlos Lopes is a Portuguese former long-distance runner….who was the winner of the marathon race at the 1984 Summer Olympics, in Los Angeles at the age of 37….as he brought home Portugal’s first ever Olympic gold medal….along with a new Olympic record of 2:09.21…..then at the age of 38, in the 1985 Rotterdam marathon….Lopes took 53 seconds off the world’s best marathon time….when he set a new world record of 2:07.12….thus becoming the first man to run the marathon in less than 2 hours 8 minutes.
Ingrid Kristiansen is a Norwegian former athlete…..who was one of the best female long distance runners during the 1980’s……while being the former world record holder in the 5000 metres, 10,000 metres and the marathon….who is the only person ever, at that point in time, to hold those records simultaneously….while being a World Champion on the track, roads and cross-country…..and the first athlete to win World titles on all three surfaces. At the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, she finished fourth in the first women’s Olympic marathon…..then at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, she dropped out of the 10,000 meters final while leading.
