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Marathon at the Summer Olympics

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Marathon
at the Olympic Games
Burton Holmes' photograph entitled 1896: Three athletes in training for the marathon at the Olympic Games in Athens
Overview
SportAthletics
GenderMen and women
Years heldMen: 18962024
Women: 19842024
Olympic record
Men2:06:26 Tamirat Tola (2024)
Women2:22:55 Sifan Hassan (2024)
Reigning champion
Men Tamirat Tola (ETH)
Women Sifan Hassan (NED)

The marathon at the Summer Olympics is the only road running event held at the multi-sport event. The men's marathon has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since the first modern Olympics in 1896. Nearly ninety years later, the women's event was added to the programme at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

History

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The modern marathon event was created and later refined through the Olympic competition. The idea of holding a marathon race at the first Olympics was suggested to Pierre de Coubertin by Michel Bréal. Based upon a popular myth stemming from the Battle of Marathon, in which Pheidippides ran to Athens from the town of Marathon, Greece to carry the message of a Greek victory, the 1896 course began in the town of Marathon and finished in Athens' Panathenaic Stadium – a distance of around 40 kilometres (25 mi).[1] On April 10, 1896, Greek water-carrier Spyridon Louis won the first Olympic marathon in 2 hours 58 minutes and 50 seconds. The route between Marathon and Panathenaic Stadium was repeated when Athens hosted the 2004 Games.

The race distance varied from 40 to 42 kilometres (25 to 26 mi) in the early editions as it was typically based upon the distance between two points that the organisers felt were suitable. The 1908 London Olympics marked the introduction of the standard distance of 26 miles, 385 yards (42.195 km).[2] However, it was not until the 1924 Paris Olympics that this distance became the standard at the Olympics.[3]

The Olympic marathon proved immediately popular in the Western world and quickly spawned numerous long-running annual races, including the Boston Marathon in 1897, the Tour de Paris Marathon in 1902, the Yonkers Marathon in 1907, and the London Polytechnic Marathon in 1909. Such marathons played a key role in the expansion of the road running movement internationally over the course of the 20th century.[4][5]

It has become a tradition for the men's Olympic marathon to be the last event of the athletics calendar, on the final day of the Olympics.[6] For many years since the 1964 Tokyo Games, the race finished inside the Olympic stadium; however, at the 2004 Athens games, the finish was at the historic Panathenaic Stadium, at the 2012 London games, the start and finish were on The Mall,[7] and at the 2016 Rio games, the start and finish were in the Sambadrome Marquês de Sapucaí, the parade area that serves as a spectator mall for Carnival.[8] At the 2020 Tokyo games, the marathon was instead held in Sapporo due to heat concerns in the host city.[9] Often, the men's marathon medals are awarded at the closing ceremony. In 2020, both the men's and women's medals were presented. In the 2024 Summer Olympics, the women's marathon was the final event, recognising gender equality and women's rights, with the men's going off the day before.[10]

The Olympic records for the event are 2:06:26 hours for men, set by Tamirat Tola in 2024, and 2:22:55 hours for women, set by Sifan Hassan in 2024. The men's marathon world record has been improved several times at the Olympics: in 1908, 1920, and then at successive Olympics by Abebe Bikila in 1960 and 1964.[11] Abebe Bikila, Waldemar Cierpinski, and Eliud Kipchoge are the only athletes to have won two Olympic gold medals in the marathon. No athlete has won more than two medals of any colour. Ethiopia have won the most gold medals in the event, with six, while Kenya has the greatest medal total with fifteen overall.

Medal summary

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Men

[edit]
Games Gold Silver Bronze
1896 Athens
details
Spyridon Louis
 Greece
2:58:50 Charilaos Vasilakos
 Greece
3:06:03 Gyula Kellner
 Hungary
3:06:35
1900 Paris
details
Michel Théato
 France[12][13]
2:59:45 Émile Champion
 France
3:04:17 Ernst Fast
 Sweden
3:37:14
1904 St. Louis
details
Thomas Hicks
 United States
3:28:53 Albert Corey
 France[14][15]
3:34:52 Arthur Newton
 United States
3:47:33
1908 London
details
Johnny Hayes
 United States
2:55:18.4 Charles Hefferon
 South Africa
2:56:06.0 Joseph Forshaw
 United States
2:57:10.4
1912 Stockholm
details
Ken McArthur
 South Africa
2:36:54.8 Christian Gitsham
 South Africa
2:37:52.0 Gaston Strobino
 United States
2:38:42.4
1920 Antwerp
details
Hannes Kolehmainen
 Finland
2:32:35.8 Jüri Lossmann
 Estonia
2:32:48.6 Valerio Arri
 Italy
2:36:32.8
1924 Paris
details
Albin Stenroos
 Finland
2:41:22.6 Romeo Bertini
 Italy
2:47:19.6 Clarence DeMar
 United States
2:48:14.0
1928 Amsterdam
details
Boughera El Ouafi
 France
2:32:57 Manuel Plaza
 Chile
2:33:23 Martti Marttelin
 Finland
2:35:02
1932 Los Angeles
details
Juan Carlos Zabala
 Argentina
2:31:36 Sam Ferris
 Great Britain
2:31:55 Armas Toivonen
 Finland
2:32:12
1936 Berlin
details
Sohn Kee-chung
 Japan[16]
2:29:19.2 Ernest Harper
 Great Britain
2:31:23.2 Nam Sung-yong
 Japan[16]
2:31:42.0
1948 London
details
Delfo Cabrera
 Argentina
2:34:51.6 Tom Richards
 Great Britain
2:35:07.6 Étienne Gailly
 Belgium
2:35:33.6
1952 Helsinki
details
Emil Zátopek
 Czechoslovakia
2:23:03.2 Reinaldo Gorno
 Argentina
2:25:35.0 Gustaf Jansson
 Sweden
2:26:07.0
1956 Melbourne
details
Alain Mimoun
 France
2:25:00 Franjo Mihalić
 Yugoslavia
2:26:32 Veikko Karvonen
 Finland
2:27:47
1960 Rome
details
Abebe Bikila
 Ethiopia
2:15:16.2 Rhadi Ben Abdesselam
 Morocco
2:15:41.6 Barry Magee
 New Zealand
2:17:18.2
1964 Tokyo
details
Abebe Bikila
 Ethiopia
2:12:11.2 Basil Heatley
 Great Britain
2:16:19.2 Kōkichi Tsuburaya
 Japan
2:16:22.8
1968 Mexico City
details
Mamo Wolde
 Ethiopia
2:20:26 Kenji Kimihara
 Japan
2:23:31 Mike Ryan
 New Zealand
2:23:45
1972 Munich
details
Frank Shorter
 United States
2:12:19 Karel Lismont
 Belgium
2:14:31 Mamo Wolde
 Ethiopia
2:15:08
1976 Montreal
details
Waldemar Cierpinski
 East Germany
2:09:55 Frank Shorter
 United States
2:10:45 Karel Lismont
 Belgium
2:11:12
1980 Moscow
details
Waldemar Cierpinski
 East Germany
2:11:03 Gerard Nijboer
 Netherlands
2:11:20 Satymkul Dzhumanazarov
 Soviet Union
2:11:35
1984 Los Angeles
details
Carlos Lopes
 Portugal
2:09:21 John Treacy
 Ireland
2:09:56 Charlie Spedding
 Great Britain
2:09:58
1988 Seoul
details
Gelindo Bordin
 Italy
2:10:32 Douglas Wakiihuri
 Kenya
2:10:47 Ahmed Salah
 Djibouti
2:10:59
1992 Barcelona
details
Hwang Young-cho
 South Korea
2:13:23 Kōichi Morishita
 Japan
2:13:45 Stephan Freigang
 Germany
2:14:00
1996 Atlanta
details
Josia Thugwane
 South Africa
2:12:36 Lee Bong-ju
 South Korea
2:12:39 Erick Wainaina
 Kenya
2:12:44
2000 Sydney
details
Gezahegne Abera
 Ethiopia
2:10:11 Erick Wainaina
 Kenya
2:10:31 Tesfaye Tola
 Ethiopia
2:11:10
2004 Athens
details
Stefano Baldini
 Italy
2:10:55 Meb Keflezighi
 United States
2:11:29 Vanderlei de Lima
 Brazil
2:12:11
2008 Beijing
details
Samuel Wanjiru
 Kenya
2:06:32 Jaouad Gharib
 Morocco
2:07:16 Tsegay Kebede
 Ethiopia
2:10:00
2012 London
details
Stephen Kiprotich
 Uganda
2:08:01 Abel Kirui
 Kenya
2:08:27 Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich
 Kenya
2:09:37
2016 Rio de Janeiro
details
Eliud Kipchoge
 Kenya
2:08:44 Feyisa Lelisa
 Ethiopia
2:09:54 Galen Rupp
 United States
2:10:05
2020 Tokyo
details
Eliud Kipchoge
 Kenya
2:08:38 Abdi Nageeye
 Netherlands
2:09:58 Bashir Abdi
 Belgium
2:10:00
2024 Paris
details
Tamirat Tola
 Ethiopia
2:06:26 Bashir Abdi
 Belgium
2:06:47 Benson Kipruto
 Kenya
2:07:00

Multiple medalists

[edit]
Rank Athlete Nation Olympics Gold Silver Bronze Total
1= Abebe Bikila  Ethiopia (ETH) 1960–1964 2 0 0 2
1= Waldemar Cierpinski  East Germany (GDR) 1976–1980 2 0 0 2
1= Eliud Kipchoge  Kenya (KEN) 2016–2020 2 0 0 2
4 Frank Shorter  United States (USA) 1972–1976 1 1 0 2
5 Mamo Wolde  Ethiopia (ETH) 1968–1972 1 0 1 2
6= Karel Lismont  Belgium (BEL) 1972–1976 0 1 1 2
6= Erick Wainaina  Kenya (KEN) 1996–2000 0 1 1 2
6= Bashir Abdi  Belgium (BEL) 2020–2024 0 1 1 2

Medals by country

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Map of countries' best results – Men's Marathon
As of the 2020 Olympics
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Ethiopia (ETH)5139
2 Kenya (KEN)3328
3 United States (USA)32510
4 France (FRA)3205
5 South Africa (RSA)2204
6 Italy (ITA)2114
7 Argentina (ARG)2103
8 Finland (FIN)2035
9 East Germany (GDR)2002
10 Japan (JPN)1225
11 Greece (GRE)1102
 South Korea (KOR)1102
13 Czechoslovakia (TCH)1001
 Portugal (POR)1001
 Uganda (UGA)1001
16 Great Britain (GBR)0415
17 Morocco (MAR)0202
 Netherlands (NED)0202
19 Belgium (BEL)0134
20 Chile (CHI)0101
 Estonia (EST)0101
 Ireland (IRL)0101
 Yugoslavia (YUG)0101
24 New Zealand (NZL)0022
 Sweden (SWE)0022
26 Brazil (BRA)0011
 Djibouti (DJI)0011
 Germany (GER)0011
 Hungary (HUN)0011
 Soviet Union (URS)0011
Totals (30 entries)30292988

Women

[edit]
Games Gold Silver Bronze
1984 Los Angeles
details
Joan Benoit
 United States
2:24:52 Grete Waitz
 Norway
2:26:18 Rosa Mota
 Portugal
2:26:57
1988 Seoul
details
Rosa Mota
 Portugal
2:25:40 Lisa Martin
 Australia
2:25:53 Katrin Dörre
 East Germany
2:26:21
1992 Barcelona
details
Valentina Yegorova
 Unified Team
2:32:41 Yuko Arimori
 Japan
2:32:49 Lorraine Moller
 New Zealand
2:33:59
1996 Atlanta
details
Fatuma Roba
 Ethiopia
2:26:05 Valentina Yegorova
 Russia
2:28:05 Yuko Arimori
 Japan
2:28:39
2000 Sydney
details
Naoko Takahashi
 Japan
2:23:14 Lidia Șimon
 Romania
2:23:22 Joyce Chepchumba
 Kenya
2:24:45
2004 Athens
details
Mizuki Noguchi
 Japan
2:26:20 Catherine Ndereba
 Kenya
2:26:32 Deena Kastor
 United States
2:27:20
2008 Beijing
details
Constantina Tomescu
 Romania
2:26:44 Catherine Ndereba
 Kenya
2:27:06 Zhou Chunxiu
 China
2:27:07
2012 London
details
Tiki Gelana
 Ethiopia
2:23:07 Priscah Jeptoo
 Kenya
2:23:12 Tatyana Petrova Arkhipova
 Russia
2:23:29
2016 Rio de Janeiro
details
Jemima Sumgong
 Kenya
2:24:04 Eunice Kirwa
 Bahrain
2:24:13 Mare Dibaba
 Ethiopia
2:24:30
2020 Tokyo
details
Peres Jepchirchir
 Kenya
2:27:20 Brigid Kosgei
 Kenya
2:27:36 Molly Seidel
 United States
2:27:46
2024 Paris
details
Sifan Hassan
 Netherlands
2:22:55 Tigst Assefa
 Ethiopia
2:22:58 Hellen Obiri
 Kenya
2:23:10

Multiple medalists

[edit]
Rank Athlete Nation Olympics Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Valentina Yegorova  Unified Team (EUN)
 Russia (RUS)
1992–1996 1 1 0 2
2 Rosa Mota  Portugal (POR) 1984–1988 1 0 1 2
3 Catherine Ndereba  Kenya (KEN) 2004–2008 0 2 0 2
4 Yuko Arimori  Japan (JPN) 1992–1996 0 1 1 2

Medals by country

[edit]
Map of countries' best results – Women's Marathon
As of the 2020 Olympics
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Kenya (KEN)2417
2 Japan (JPN)2114
3 Ethiopia (ETH)2013
4 Romania (ROM)1102
5 United States (USA)1023
6 Portugal (POR)1012
7 Unified Team (EUN)1001
8 Russia (RUS)0112
9 Australia (AUS)0101
 Bahrain (BRN)0101
 Norway (NOR)0101
12 China (CHN)0011
 East Germany (GDR)0011
 New Zealand (NZL)0011
Totals (14 entries)10101030

Intercalated Games

[edit]

The 1906 Intercalated Games were held in Athens and at the time were officially recognised as part of the Olympic Games series, with the intention being to hold a games in Greece in two-year intervals between the internationally held Olympics. However, this plan never came to fruition and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) later decided not to recognise these games as part of the official Olympic series. Some sports historians continue to treat the results of these games as part of the Olympic canon.[17]

At this event a men's marathon was held over 41.86 km and Canada's Billy Sherring won the competition. John Svanberg, the runner-up in the 1906 5-mile race, was also runner-up in the marathon. American William Frank was the bronze medalist.[18]

Games Gold Silver Bronze
1906 Athens
details
 Billy Sherring (CAN)  John Svanberg (SWE)  William Frank (USA)

References

[edit]
Participation and athlete data
Olympic record progressions
Specific
  1. ^ Athletics at the 1896 Athina Summer Games: Men's Marathon. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-03-12.
  2. ^ Athletics at the 1908 London Summer Games: Men's Marathon. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-03-12.
  3. ^ Athletics at the 1924 Paris Summer Games: Men's Marathon. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-03-12.
  4. ^ Longest Running Marathons. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 2014-03-12.
  5. ^ Lovett, Charlie (1997). Prologue: The Legend. Marathon Guide. Retrieved on 2014-03-12.
  6. ^ "Marathon Race". Marathon Run Museum. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  7. ^ "Mapping out the London Olympic Marathon course". The AZ Blog. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  8. ^ "Visualizing the Rio Olympic Marathon Course". Runner's World. 5 August 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  9. ^ INC, SANKEI DIGITAL (2021-08-08). "大迫、服部は先頭集団 男子マラソン5キロ通過". 産経ニュース (in Japanese). Retrieved 2021-08-08.
  10. ^ "Paris 2024 marathon route revealed: A challenging race through history and incredible monuments". Olympics.com. October 5, 2022. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  11. ^ Butler, Mark, ed. (2011). 13th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook. Daegu 2011 (PDF). Monaco: IAAF Media & Public Relations Department. pp. 595, 612, 614–615, 705, 707. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 18, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
  12. ^ Sometimes listed as representing Luxembourg.
  13. ^ "Paris 1900 marathon men Results - Olympic athletics". olympics.com. IOC. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  14. ^ Arriving without correct documents, a French immigrant to the United States Albert Corey is inconsistently listed as performing in a mixed team in the four mile team race (with four undisputed Americans) and performing for the US in the marathon. Currently, the IOC attributes his medal in the marathon to France and in the team race to a mixed team.
  15. ^ "St. Louis 1904 Athletics Marathon Men Results". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 2022-01-31.
  16. ^ a b Both Sohn Kee-chung and Nam Sung-yong were from Korea. The IOC attributes both medals to Japan due to Korea being a Japanese colony at the time. All Korean Olympians during the Japanese colonial rule could only participate in the games as a representative of Japan and had to compete with Japanese names instead of their original Korean names. However, some sources still refer to Son Kee-chung as the first Korean to win an Olympic marathon today.
  17. ^ 1906 Athina Summer Games. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-01-26.
  18. ^ Athletics at the 1906 Athina Summer Games: Men's Marathon. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-03-12.
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