Mark Plaatjes is a former long-distance runner who was born in South Africa but represented the United States in international competitions. By far the greatest success of his career was the victory in the marathon at the 1993 World Championships in Athletics in Stuttgart. The race had been led by Lucketz Swartbooi from Namibia for a very long time. At 40 km, Swartbooi still looked like the likely winner. But the Namibian slowed down in the very final stages and was overtaken by Plaatjes who became the first American to win a gold medal in a long-distance event at World Championships.

American track and field athletes | Long-distance runners

Mark Plaatjes | Mark Plaatjes