Known as Ravelo, the athlete from Madagascar won Australia's most famous footrace in 1975, the first person to do so without a handicap.

According to race administrators, Ravelomanantsoa arrived in the country just two days before the race and in wet conditions took out the prize ahead of a hotly favoured Peter Marks.

Video footage of the race shows him starting well behind the other competitors, gaining on them steadily and then win with a final burst finishing about half a metre ahead.

It was enough to see him enter into Stawell folklore, but he never returned to defend the title.

It took until 2005 for another runner to win from scratch, when Australian 100-metre champion Josh Ross crossed the line first.

Ravelomanantsoa set an African record when he ran 100m in 10.0sec in Helsinki in 1971 and raced in three Olympic Games.

He died in Lyon, France, on September 27.