Elana Meyer

Track and field

For all the crass commercialism of recent Olympics, for all the medal-stand exhibitions of X-brand shoes and Y-brand warm-up suits, for all the $20 T-shirts and $5 sausage dogs, there are still defining moments that make the Olympics a treasure.

One of them came in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, just after Derartu Tulu had beaten Elana Meyer after the two of them had run away from the pack in the women’s 10,000-meter run. Meyer, a white South African, embraced Tulu, a black Ethiopian, and they trotted a victory lap together.

That was South Africa’s return to the Olympics after a 32-year ban because of its restrictive racial policies.

Friday, Meyer, 29, talked about her 1992 Olympic experience. It was more complex, she said, than it appeared.

“It was amazing,” she said. “A month before, our federation faxed us that we were not going to run in the Olympics because there was bad violence in South Africa. The situation resolved itself, so just walking onto the track was amazing. I had been running for 15 years and didn’t have an opportunity to run in international competition because of our political situation.

“Now, I was in the Olympics, and I became the silver medalist. It was so emotional.”

While Tulu will double in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters in Atlanta, Meyer will be among the favorites in the marathon on July 28.

Before Meyer, South Africa’s running heroine was Zola Budd.

“She was always miles ahead of me and an inspiration for me,” Meyer said. “Every year, I was getting closer and closer to her, and in 1990 I beat her for the first time.”

Now, South Africa has a new running icon.