The organizers put out feelers worldwide for the 23rd edition of ISTAF which led to athletes from 17 countries taking part, a meeting record. Another landmark was the debut of African athletes at ISTAF where the star in the men’s 10,000m was Mamo Wolde who dominated the race to win in front of 12,000 spectators. Six years later the Ethiopian won the Olympic Marathon title, following in the footsteps of his compatriot Abebe Bikila who had won the previous two Olympic marathon golds for Ethiopia. For good measure Wolde also won the silver medal in the 10,000m in those same Olympic Games in Mexico in 1968.
