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Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon

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Men's marathon
at the Games of the XVIII Olympiad
Abebe Bikila with gold medal from the marathon
VenueOlympic Stadium, Tokyo
Dates21 October
Competitors68 from 35 nations
Winning time2:12:11.2 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Abebe Bikila
 Ethiopia
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Basil Heatley
 Great Britain
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Kōkichi Tsuburaya
 Japan
← 1960
1968 →
Official Video Marathon Highlights Video on YouTube

The men's marathon was part of the Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics program in Tokyo. It was held on 21 October 1964. 79 athletes from 41 nations entered, with 68 starting and 58 finishing.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia, the first man to successfully defend Olympic gold in the marathon (and, indeed, the first to win two medals of any color in Olympic marathons). Unlike in 1960, he wore shoes this time. Great Britain earned its first marathon medal since 1948 with Basil Heatley's silver; Japan took its first medal since 1936 with bronze by Kōkichi Tsuburaya.

Background

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This was the 15th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning runners from the 1960 marathon included defending champion Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia and ninth-place finisher Osvaldo Suárez of Argentina. Bikila was favored to repeat. Significant challengers were Toru Terasawa of Japan (who had taken the world record from Bikila at the 1963 Beppu-Ōita Marathon and held it until the 1963 Polytechnic Marathon), Leonard Edelen of the United States (who had held the world record from the 1963 Polytechnic to the 1964 Polytechnic), and Basil Heatley of Great Britain (the current world record, who had broken it at the 1964 Polytechnic).[2]

Luxembourg (not counting Michel Theato, the gold medalist in 1900 who was Luxembourg-born but registered as a French competitor) Nepal, Puerto Rico, Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia, Tanzania, Thailand, and Vietnam each made their first appearance in Olympic marathons. The United States made its 15th appearance, the only nation to have competed in each Olympic marathon to that point.

Competition format and course

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As all Olympic marathons, the competition was a single race. The marathon distance of 26 miles, 385 yards was run over an out-and-back course. The course was very flat and straight.[2]

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1964 Summer Olympics.

World record  Basil Heatley (GBR) 2:13:55 London, United Kingdom 13 June 1964
Olympic record  Abebe Bikila (ETH) 2:15:16.2 Rome, Italy 10 September 1960

Abebe Bikila set a new world record at 2:12:11.2.

Schedule

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All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

Date Time Round
Wednesday, 21 October 1964 13:00 Final

Results

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Bikila broke the world's best time for the marathon by 1 minute 44 seconds set by runner-up Basil Heatley four months prior at the Polytechnic Marathon to defend his Olympic gold medal.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Abebe Bikila  Ethiopia 2:12:11.2 WR, OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Basil Heatley  Great Britain 2:16:19.2
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Kōkichi Tsuburaya  Japan 2:16:22.8
4 Brian Kilby  Great Britain 2:17:02.4
5 József Sütő  Hungary 2:17:55.8
6 Leonard Edelen  United States 2:18:12.4
7 Aurèle Vandendriessche  Belgium 2:18:42.6
8 Kenji Kimihara  Japan 2:19:49.0
9 Ron Clarke  Australia 2:20:26.8
10 Demissie Wolde  Ethiopia 2:21:25.2
11 Lee Sang-hun  South Korea 2:22:02.8
12 Bakir Benaïssa  Morocco 2:22:27.0
13 Eino Oksanen  Finland 2:22:36.0
14 Billy Mills  United States 2:22:55.4
15 Toru Terasawa  Japan 2:23:09.0
16 Kim Yun-Bum  South Korea 2:24:40.6
17 Giorgio Jegher  Italy 2:24:45.2
18 Václav Chudomel  Czechoslovakia 2:24:46.8
19 Ron Hill  Great Britain 2:25:34.4
20 Paavo Pystynen  Finland 2:26:00.6
21 Fidel Negrete  Mexico 2:26:07.0
22 Nikolay Tikhomirov  Soviet Union 2:26:07.4
23 Pete McArdle  United States 2:26:24.4
24 Heinrich Hagen  United Team of Germany 2:26:39.8
25 Pavel Kantorek  Czechoslovakia 2:26:47.2
26 Nikolay Abramov  Soviet Union 2:27:09.4
27 Ray Puckett  New Zealand 2:27:34.0
28 Eino Valle  Finland 2:27:34.8
29 Jeff Julian  New Zealand 2:27:57.6
30 Ricardo Vidal  Chile 2:28:01.6
31 Robert Vagg  Australia 2:28:41.0
32 Guido Vögele  Switzerland 2:29:17.8
33 Balkrishan Akotkar  India 2:29:27.4
34 Jean Aniset  Luxembourg 2:29:52.6
35 Thin Sumbwegam  Burma 2:30:35.8
36 Constantin Grecescu  Romania 2:30:42.6
37 Janos Pinter  Hungary 2:30:50.2
38 Gerhard Hönicke  United Team of Germany 2:33:23.0
39 Manfred Naumann  United Team of Germany 2:33:42.0
40 Antonio Ambu  Italy 2:34:37.6
41 Oskar Leupi  Switzerland 2:35:05.4
42 Ivan Keats  New Zealand 2:36:16.8
43 Harbans Lal  India 2:37:05.8
44 Armando Aldegalega  Portugal 2:38:02.2
45 Chrisantus Nyakwayo  Kenya 2:38:38.6
46 Constantino Kapambwe  Northern Rhodesia 2:39:28.4
47 Omari Abdallah  Tanzania 2:40:06.0
48 Muhammad Youssef  Pakistan 2:40:46.0
49 Naftali Temu  Kenya 2:40:46.6
50 Ju Hyeong-gyeol  South Korea 2:41:08.2
51 Mathias Kanda  Rhodesia 2:41:09.0
52 Anthony Cook  Australia 2:42:03.6
53 Víctor Peralta  Mexico 2:44:23.6
54 Trevor Haynes  Northern Rhodesia 2:45:08.6
55 Abe Fornés  Puerto Rico 2:46:22.6
56 Robson Mrombe  Rhodesia 2:49:30.8
57 Laurent Chifita  Northern Rhodesia 2:51:52.2
58 Chanom Sirirangsri  Thailand 2:59:25.6
Ganga Bahadur Thapa  Nepal DNF 2:23:41 at 40 km
Bhupendra Silwal  Nepal DNF 2:34:12 at 40 km
James Hogan  Ireland DNF 1:51:27 at 35 km
Viktor Baykov  Soviet Union DNF 1:39:13 at 30 km
Mohamed Hadheb Hannachi  Tunisia DNF 1:46:18 at 30 km
Andrew Soi  Kenya DNF 1:23:37 at 25 km
Osvaldo Roberto Suarez  Argentina DNF 1:09:00 at 20 km
Mamo Wolde  Ethiopia DNF 0:47:14 at 15 km
Hedhili Ben Boubaker  Tunisia DNF 0:47:51 at 15 km
Nguyễn Văn Lý  Vietnam DNF 1:02:51 at 15 km
Jean Louis Brougier  France DNS
Dumitru Chitoban  Romania DNS
Suliman Fighi Hassan  Libya DNS
Mohammed Gammoudi  Tunisia DNS
Alberto Garabito  Bolivia DNS
Ranatunge Karunananda  Ceylon DNS
Bruce Kidd  Canada DNS
Lajos Mecser  Hungary DNS
Alejo Montano  Bolivia DNS
Jean Randrianjatovo  Madagascar DNS
Ryoo Man-Hyung  North Korea DNS

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games: Men's Marathon". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Marathon, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
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