In the ensuing years, Rome's reputation has expanded right along with Muhammad Ali's.

But the Olympics of 1960 reflected what was going on in the world; the world did not reflect what was going on in the Olympics.

To make it worse, Marannis writes like an historian who has never actually seen a sporting event. His descriptions of people and places is terrific, but his play-by-play makes the 100-meter final sound like a piano recital.

Never send a scholar to do the job of a sports writer.

The book is worth reading, though, if only for the re-telling of Abebe Bikila's triumph in the marathon.

Line up all the legendary Olympic stories, from Jim Thorpe to Mark Spitz, from Lasse Viren to Nadia Comaneci, and I'll take the one about the skinny palace guard from Ethiopia who shows up unknown at the starting line in bare feet and proceeds to cover 26.2 miles of Rome cobblestones as if the strongest runners in the world aren't even there.

Near the floodlit finish at the Arch of Constantine, Bikila passes the Axum Obelisk, an ornate monument revered in his homeland that stood on Ethiopian soil for 1,600 years until it was stolen by Mussolini's army and brought to Rome in 1937 when Italy occupied Ethiopia.

As the story goes, Bikila increases his pace as he passes the pilfered monument while throngs of Italians cheer him to the gold.

A great end to a great track meet.

---

Lee Benson's column runs Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Please send e-mail to benson@desnews.com and faxes to 801-237-2527.