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Document 1 THE SURPRISE WAS that a famous runner was coming to speak to the class. Not just any runner — an Olympian. After Sister made the announcement, Jean-Patrick could not keep his mind on the path of his studies. All morning long, his mind travelled back to the runner.
Document 1 THE SURPRISE WAS that a famous runner was coming to speak to the class. Not just any runner — an Olympian. After Sister made the announcement, Jean-Patrick could not keep his mind on the path of his studies. All morning long, his mind travelled back to the runner. His eyes wore out a spot on the window where he searched for the speck that would turn into the runner's fancy auto. 5 Finally, just as he finished his sums, he saw a shape materialize from a swirl of dust. The car was not fancy; it was a Toyota no different from a hundred other Toyotas on the roads. A man thin as papyrus unfolded his legs into the yard, stood up, and stretched. Jean-Patrick had expected a big man, but the runner stood not much taller than Roger. Jean-Patrick wondered if he was umutwa, one of the pygmy people who sold milk and butter in clay pots to 10 families that didn't keep cows. The momentary disappointment vanished as he watched the runner move, flowing rather than walking from one place to the next, as if his muscles were made of water. He wore sunglasses. His shirt snapped in the breeze, zebras and lions racing across the shiny fabric. “Muraho neza!” the man said to the class. “I’m Telesphore Dusabe, a marathon runner representing Rwanda in the Olympics. I am blessed to be here in Cyangugu to talk to you today.” Jean-Patrick 15 asked him to write his name on the board, and he copied it into his notebook, framed by two stars on either side. Telesphore spoke about running barefoot up and down Rwanda's hills. “We call our country the land of a thousand hills,” he said, his face lit from the inside as if by a flame, “and I believe I have conquered every one.” He talked about the lure of the Olympics and a 20 feeling like flying that sometimes filled his body when he ran. Jean-Patrick raised his hand. “Did you say sometimes?” he wanted to know. “What about the rest of the time?” “Smart boy,” Telesphore said, and he chuckled. “I will tell you a secret. Sometimes it is all I can do to go from one footstep to the next, but for each such moment, I make myself remember how it 25 feels to win.” Jean-Patrick felt the man's eyes on his