Athletics at the 1900 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon

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Men's marathon
at the Games of the II Olympiad
Marathon 1900.jpg
The early stages of the race
Venue Paris
DateJuly 19
Competitors14 from 5 nations
Winning time2:59:45
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Michel Théato
Flag of France.svg  France
Silver medal icon.svg Émile Champion
Flag of France.svg  France
Bronze medal icon.svg Ernst Fast
Swedish civil ensign (1844-1905).svg  Sweden
  1896
1904  

The men's marathon was a track & field athletics event at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. It was held on July 19, 1900. 13 athletes from five nations competed in the marathon, which used a distance of 40.26 kilometres.

The winner, Michel Théato, was a native of Luxembourg who was living in Paris. At the time, competitors were not selected and entered by National Olympic Committees. As such, Théato was recorded as being French. Decades later, after his true nationality was determined, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg lodged a complaint with the International Olympic Committee and petitioned to change the Olympic record of Théato's nationality; this complaint was rejected in 2004. [1]

In 2021, the IOC online data and medal table for the 1900 Games were changed to reflect medalists' nationalities in this and eight other events, including for Michel Théato. [2] This led some to believe that Luxembourg had officially recovered this Olympic title. This change in the IOC online data was later reversed. [3]

Summary

The marathon race, which began at 2:30 p.m. in temperatures of 39 °C (102 °F [4] ), wound through the streets of Paris.

While 20 runners entered, only thirteen started, with seven finishing the race: one dropped out during the four laps around the track that preceded the road running. Touquet-Daunis led until he was overcome by the heat, and subsequently retired from the race.

Fast took the lead, but had tired himself trying to keep pace with the Frenchman, and was passed by Théato and Champion before the end.

Background

This was the second appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the runners from 1896 returned. The marathon, invented specifically for the 1896 Olympics, was not quite as much a novelty as four years prior; the Boston Marathon had been run every year starting in 1897, and the 1898 winner, Ronald MacDonald of Canada, was among the runners at the 1900 Olympics.

Canada, Great Britain, and Sweden appeared in the event for the first time. France and the United States were the only nations to have runners in both of the first two Olympic marathons.

Competition format

The marathon was a single-race competition. The distance for the event had not yet been standardized; the 1900 version used a course that was 40.26 kilometres in length (compared to the approximately 40 kilometres of 1896 and the 42.195 kilometres later set as the standard). The course started with four laps of the track in the stadium (2 kilometers), before running through the streets of Paris. [5]

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in hours) prior to the 1900 Summer Olympics. Marathon distances were not standardized, and world records or bests were not officially recognized, until 1924.

World recordCanadian Red Ensign (1868-1921).svg  Jack Caffery  (CAN)2:39:44 (40.23km) [6] Boston 19 April 1900 [7] [8]
Olympic recordFlag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Spyridon Louis  (GRE)2'58:50(*) Athens, Greece 10 April 1896 (NS)

(*) Distance was 40 kilometres

Schedule

DateTimeRound
Thursday, 19 July 190014:30Final

Results

RankAthleteNationTime
Gold medal icon.svg Michel Théato Flag of France.svg  France 2:59:45
Silver medal icon.svg Émile Champion Flag of France.svg  France 3:04:17
Bronze medal icon.svg Ernst Fast Swedish civil ensign (1844-1905).svg  Sweden 3:37:14
4 Eugène Besse Flag of France.svg  France 4:00:43
5 Arthur Newton US flag 45 stars.svg  United States 4:04:12
6 Dick Grant US flag 45 stars.svg  United States Unknown
7 Ronald J. MacDonald Flag of Canada (1868-1921).svg  Canada Unknown
Auguste Marchais Flag of France.svg  France DNF
Johan Nyström Swedish civil ensign (1844-1905).svg  Sweden DNF
E. Ion Pool Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain DNF
Frederick Randall Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain DNF
William Saward Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain DNF
W. Taylor Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain DNF [5]
Georges Touquet-Daunis Flag of France.svg  France DNF
Emilio Banfi Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg  Italy DNS
John Cregan US flag 45 stars.svg  United States DNS
Alexander Grant Flag of Canada (1868-1921).svg  Canada DNS
John MaguireFlag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain DNS
MartensFlag of France.svg  France DNS
Jakub WolfFlag of Hungary (1867-1918).svg  Hungary DNS
Ettore ZiliaFlag of Italy (1861-1946).svg  Italy DNS

Sources

Specific
  1. "Michel THEATO (1878-1919)". pierrelagrue-jo.com. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  2. "Paris 1900 Medal Table". Olympics.com. International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 16 June 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  3. "Michel Théato IOC webpage". Olympics.com. International Olympic Committee.
  4. USA Track & Field (2004). "2004 USA Olympic Team Trials: Men's Marathon Media Guide Supplement" (PDF). Santa Barbara, California: USA Track & Field. p. 11. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  5. 1 2 "Marathon, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  6. "Boston Marathon history - Boston Globe". archive.boston.com. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  7. "History | Boston Athletic Association". www.baa.org.
  8. "Champions | Boston Athletic Association". www.baa.org. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
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