Stylianos Kyriakides

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Stylianos Kyriakides (born Statos, Cyprus 1910) (Greek: Στυλιανός Κυριακίδης) was a marathon runner. He competed for Greece in the 1936 Summer Olympics, placing 11th. He was invited by his friend and fellow Berlin marathoner, John A. Kelley, to participate in the Boston Marathon in the late 1930's. On the day of the marathon he wore new shoes, which injured his feet and caused him to place poorly.

He returned to Greece, and survived the German occupation during World War II. With the Greek Civil War raging, he returned to win the 1946 Boston Marathon. According to a newspaper report, he was running with John Kelley near the end, when an old man shouted from the crowd, "For Greece, for your children!" inspiring him to pull away and win the race.

A sculpture was unveiled in Boston in 2004, commemorating him:

"The winner of the 50th Boston Marathon, Kyriakides used his victory as a call to action to aid his war and famine-ravaged homeland. Kyriakides, who narrowly escaped execution during World War II during the Nazi occupation of Greece, hadn't run in six years when he came to Boston in 1946, with the help of Greek-American benefactors. He was emaciated from the lack of food in war-ravaged Greece, and at one point was told by doctors in Boston he wouldn't be allowed to run because they were afraid he would die in the streets. That backdrop only added to the almost mythic race performance, in which Kyriakides came on at the end to defeat the defending champion and set the best time in the world for 1946. Nearly a million people greeted him on his return to Athens in May of 1946, when he came back with boat loads of food, medicine, clothing and other essentials donated by Americans who read of his victory." – Sculpture’s Official Press Release.

[edit] Sources

Nick Tsiotos and Andy Dabilis, Running With Pheidippides: Stylianos Kyriakides, the Miracle Marathoner (Syracuse University Press, 2001).
Amazon.com listing for Running With Pheidippides