His hair now white instead of black, Gelindo Bordin, the only man to have won both the Olympic marathon and the Boston marathon, sat down, finished his coffee and explained that 20 years later, running had a different meaning.
'When you were running three minutes a kilometre and now you are running six, you never enjoy it,' Bordin, 49, said, pointing at his stomach and indicating he ran for exercise and not to win. 'I like it because there is no pressure, but it's a totally different feeling.'
After retiring from the sport in 1992, the Italian spent 16 years away from running and, save for a few pick-up games of football, away from any sport at all. He returned five months ago for a marathon in April and will most likely run another marathon in the autumn, when Seoul celebrates its 20th Olympic anniversary.
Bordin made his victory at the 1988 Seoul Olympics about doping.
'Clean, with no drugs,' he said after his win, on the final day of the Olympics. There were reasons for this declaration - earlier in the year, the Italians had been accused of blood-doping or blood-packing and three days before Bordin ran the marathon, Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson was disqualified after testing positive for steroids.
'I really hate it, for me there's no question,' Bordin said of doping. 'You're either in or you're out. I don't believe in [being] disqualified for two years only. Every time they find somebody is doping, disqualify them for life. It's the only way to stop this.'