In so doing they represented two historic narratives, only one of which could be the story of the night.

Would Elana Meyer mark the return to the Olympics of South Africa, after a 32-year gap, by becoming the country's first post-apartheid gold medallist? Or would 20-year-old Ethiopian Derartu Tulu prevail to become the first black African woman to win Olympic gold?

Meyer, 25, had run qualifying times for the previous two Games in Los Angeles and Seoul without being able to compete in them because of the ban that had been imposed in 1962 in the wake of South Africa's apartheid policy.

And while Tulu was fortunate in her Olympic timing, it had not been so for many of her fellow Ethiopian athletes as their country had boycotted the 1984 and 1988 Games.

After the diminuitive Meyer had taken the lead after six kilometres and pushed on, only Tulu - who had spent her childhood tending cattle in the Arsi Province highlands village of Bekoji, where one of Ethiopia's other illustrious athletes, Kenenisa Bekele, was also brought up - went with her.

For lap after lap the contest, and the broader question, was unresolved as the two runners proceeded together.

The decisive moment came at the bell as Tulu moved ahead and earned victory in 31min 06.02sec, with Meyer taking silver in 31:11.75. 

The iconic moment occurred shortly afterwards as Meyer went over to congratulate her opponent during the lap of honour and the two women, their historic struggle over, embraced in joyful fashion.

Tulu's narrative had prevailed, and the alternative storyline would have to wait until the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where South African swimmer Penelope Heyns won the women's 100m breaststroke, later adding the 200m version, with Josia Thugwane also topping the podium in the men's marathon.

But in this moment at the end of what was only the second Olympic women's 10,000m race, the focus was human as much as historic. 

Two women, two opponents, white and black, literally brought together by sport.

Tulu would go on to win a second Olympic 10,000m gold at the Sydney 2000 Games, and a bronze four years later in Athens, as well as a world 10,000m title in 2001.

Meyer added a Commonwealth 10,000m silver two years later, and a world half marathon title, also in 1994. 

But despite winning such a significant medal for her country in 1992, she was not able to celebrate with the national flag as the only one available to her at that time was that of the South African National Olympic Committee.

Twenty years later, in the same stadium, South African photographer Roger Sedres, covering the World Junior Athletics Championships, took a picture of the men's discus bronze medallist, Gerhard de Beer, sporting the national flag. And he suddenly remembered Meyer's experience there on that Olympic night.

"She never had opportunity to run with the flag," he told Anna Legnani’s Love Athletics programme on the Sports Passion site. 

"It brought tears to my eyes. 

"This was the one lady that should be recognised and she never had that opportunity."

The idea remained in the back of his mind. 

And last week, with the help of Legnani - a long-time employee of the International Association of Athletics Federations, which became World Athletics in 2019 - who now runs her own online sports show, his idea came to pass as the two women were brought together in Barcelona and visited the Montjuic Stadium.

It was Tulu's first visit to Barcelona since 1992, and Legnani reported that she uttered a "little cry of joy" as she returned to the Olympic arena with her former opponent.

While Meyer finally had the chance to sport the South African flag in the Montjuic Stadium, she donated to the Museu Olimpic Joan Antoni Samaranch the neutral flag with which she had run her lap of honour.

Both athletes signed the flag, and Meyer added the words: "The symbol of the power of the values of the Olympics! Friendships, Peace, Perseverance."

"Being the first female black African athlete to win a gold medal was very important, and the most important aspect after the race was friendship," Tulu told Love Athletics. 

"In Ethiopia, every time people mention the Barcelona 1992 final, they also mention Elana - it was a symbol of unity."

Meyer added: "The embrace after the race and the victory lap together was a spontaneous gesture. 

"I was always taught to persevere in life and came to give my best effort. 

"That time I did not win, I was beaten by the better athlete on that day, but for me being able to participate and win a medal was already a great achievement.

"Now looking back I realise the race was not 25 laps - it was the 26th lap that really had an impact."

The link with athletics is still strong for both. 

Tulu is President of the Ethiopian Athletics Federation. 

Meyer is an ambassador for the Cape Town Marathon - now a candidate to become the seventh World Marathon Major - and has founded her own endurance academy, Endurocad.

"After retiring I shared my experience with many athletes," Tulu said. 

"Even if my own children do not run, I’ve inspired many Ethiopian women to be athletes, Olympians and World champions.

"Having been an elite athlete myself allows me to find the right words to speak to and motivate the current athletes."

Meyer added: "Endurocad aims to utilise sport and its values for development, not only in sport but also for personal development and academic development.

"I feel my role in life is to influence in a positive way."

The South African also reflected on the role of Nelson Mandela, imprisoned for his political activism against the apartheid system for almost as long as the country's Olympic ban lasted before being released in 1990, who established new post-apartheid nation before becoming its President in 1994.

"South African athletes were informed just three months before the Games that they we would be able to able to compete at the 1992 Olympics," Meyer recalled. 

"So many athletes were not prepared.

"Mandela came to visit us at the Athletes' Village and he inspired us - you could feel the energy.

"And when I later set the half marathon world record in Japan, Nelson Mandela called me. 

"He was an exceptional human being."

Eight years after that epic Olympic 10,000m race, Mandela spoke the following words at the inaugural Laureus World Sports Awards as its Founding Patron: "Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand."

Tulu and Meyer exemplify Mandela's message with historic resonance.