Our correspondent’s summary of last season’s sporting highlights, from doping in bridge to the sport of fire-fighting.
Ultramarathon to Hell
“Why did I do it? Because it can be done,” Krzysztof Dołęgowski said a few years ago after finishing the Marathon des Sables, said to be the world’s most difficult and demanding ultramarathon. “Because I won’t die, even if there’s hellish heat. Emil Zátopek [a four-time Olympic champion], said he doesn’t have talent, so he runs however he can. I don’t have a talent for running fast either, but I have one for running till I collapse.” Runners in the event have to cover 250 kilometres in six days; the route changes every year, but it always passes through the Moroccan part of the Sahara. The longest segment of this year’s race was 81 kilometres; the shortest was 15.5 kilometres. Participants pass through sand dunes in heat reaching 50°C, carrying eight-kilogram rucksacks. For a $5000 entry fee, the organizers ensure space to sleep in tents, medical care, 10 litres of water a day, and insurance that includes repatriation of remains. You have to bring your own clothing, food, venom extractor pump and other essentials. The organizers also ensure cleanliness: each water bottle that a runner receives is marked with their number, and they can be thrown out only in designated containers. If the judges find a bottle anywhere else, the runner receives a 30-minute penalty. That’s a lot: the victor in 2018, Rachid El Morabity, broke the tape after 19 hours and 35 minutes, just 26 minutes ahead of the No. 2 finisher, his brother Mohamed El Morabity. A total of 934 runners completed the race last year. The first race, in 1986, featured 23 competitors.
The eel who swam from the river to the games
“Every
