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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Sean Ingle in Paris

Mystery solved after 116 years: how the King helped prove marathon really is 26m 385yds

Conan Doyle Windsor Castle Olympics
The Italian Dorando Pietri staggers towards the finishing line at the end of the 1908 Olympic marathon, only to be disqualified later.
The Italian Dorando Pietri staggers towards the finishing line at the end of the 1908 Olympic marathon, only to be disqualified later. Photograph: Popperfoto/Getty Images

It sounds like something from the pen of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: the curious case of the royal family, the Italian confectioner and one of the most dramatic moments in Olympic history. A mystery that has finally been solved, thanks to a retired civil servant and King Charles.

Like many classic detective stories, it starts with a body on the floor. One hundred and 16 years ago on Wednesday, the 22-year-old Italian Dorando Pietri was leading the 1908 London Olympic marathon only to collapse yards from the finish. Five times he fell. Five times he was helped up. To the roars of nearly 100,000 people at the White City Stadium, he staggered over the line in first place.

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