Yiannis Kouros

Yiannis Kouros, born 13 February 1956 in Tripoli, Greece, is a Greek ultramarathon runner who holds or formerly held many world records at distances between 100 miles and 1,000 miles. He came to prominence by winning the Spartathlon in 1984 in a record time of 20 hours and 25 minutes, and in 1985 he won the Sydney to Melbourne Ultramarathon in a record 5 days, 5 hours, 7 minutes and 6 seconds, beating the previous record held by Cliff Young. In 1990 he emigrated to Australia after a dispute with his employer, became an Australian citizen in 1994, and retired from competition in 2014 at the age of 58. In 1991 he played Pheidippides in the film The Story of the Marathon: A Hero's Journey, he has written over 1,000 poems, and he was inducted into the Australian Ultra Runners Association's Hall of Fame in 2019.