They flew 25 hours to run 400 meters in less than a minute and a half.
But just getting the four athletes from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Los Angeles for the delegation's first-ever appearance at the Special Olympics World Games was a victory to be savored.
Three of the four teenagers on the team had never been on an airplane before -- the lone exception being 14-year-old Sara Mulekia, who once flew in a small regional plane from the capital of Kinshasa to Goma.