The long run — From guns to roses

Sydney, September 24: The streets of Sydney were packed with thousands of people excitedly watching the women’s Olympic marathon on Sunday, but to East Timorese runner Aguida Amaral it was a symbol of peace. Just a few months ago, the 28-year-old wife and mother was training barefoot in the streets of Dili, the capital of war-torn East Timor. The mere statistic of her 3:10.55 hours journey from start to the finish in Stadium Australia is a trifle. That she was 43rd of 45 finishers mattered note. The journey Amaral took from Dili to Sydney was the real achievement. The 90,000-plus spectators appreciated fully what Amaral had been through to get to the Games – including giving birth early this year – as they cheered the tiny woman as warmly as the gold medal winner, Naoko Takahashi, who finished more than 47 minutes earlier. The Olympics of Ancient Greece were marked by a truce among competing nations, and while militias in East Timor have not considered a ceasefire, the Olympic Games have provided some hopefor Amaral and the three other East Timorese competing in Sydney. The joy in her accomplishment was clear in every bounding stride she took around the vast stadium at the end of her race, even though she nearly stopped 400 metres too soon as she crossed the finish line soon after entering the stadium and fell to her knees, praying in thanks for finishing.

"I didn’t know I had to run an extra lap of the track," Amaral said through an interpreter. Instead, they marched in the Opening Ceremony behind the Olympic flag, and are recorded in the results as "Individual Olympic Athletes". They compete wearing a white vest, plain of all markings except for the five interlinked Olympic rings. To the world, they are still East Timorese. "I am just so happy," Amaral said, "I got great support from the crowd, they helped carry me along." With funding from the Olympic Solidarity fund and the United Nations, the East Timorese have been kitted out and given a month’s training in Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory. In a rare moment of peace for her, however weary she felt after running more than 42 kilometres, she wanted to enjoy the moment. Next week, after the Games are over, Amaral she will return to Dili and her three daughters and one son, and to tell them of a where the only shots you hear are those of a starter’s gun.