RIO DE JANEIRO _ The Olympics are about Michael Phelps and his 22 gold medals. They are about Usain Bolt in the 100 meters and Simone Biles on the floor exercise. They are about packed arenas and podiums and anthems and NBC cameras and endorsement deals.
But the Olympics at their essence, deep in their soul, are about Heat 4 of the first round of the men's 800 meters in the opening session of track and field Friday morning, before a sparse crowd in Rio's Estadio Olimpico, between women's shot put and men's discus qualifying.
They are about lanes 4 and 7.
They are about Charles Jock and Yiech Pur Biel, separated by two lanes on a 400-meter running oval and 9,318 miles, linked by a common race and a common past, improbably and inextricably united by the interlocking rings.
"It's very weird," Jock says, "but there's definitely a deep connection there."
"We are running under different flags," Biel says. "But I want to say to him: 'You are my brother.' "
