The Marathon has become a symbol of the Olympics. A modern-day addition to the Games, it commemorates the soldier who ran cross-country, in 490 B.C., to announce the Greek victory at Marathon and then died. Excellent film footage of the 1976 Olympic Marathon documents the physical demands of the race. Its emotional counterpart is related by Cierpinski, the event's 1976 gold medalist. This emotion-charged film proves that although the winner of the Decathlon is the best all-round athlete, the "toughest" is the winner of the Marathon.