Sporting Life

Fatigue not a tired old excuse for tenacious Croatia

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Tired is what athletes constantly are, fatigue is their aching life choice, spent is their uncomfortable state of being. Tired can be a challenge but it can't ever be an excuse.

Tired is what Gabriela Andersen-Schiess is in 1984 at the end of the Olympic marathon. Drained, lurching, cramping, dehydrated. People think she should stop, but she can't, even as she stumbles across the lanes. "I'm in the Olympics, I want to finish this race. This is my one and only chance because I was already 39."

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 14, 2018, with the headline Fatigue not a tired old excuse for tenacious Croatia. Subscribe