The Dong-a Ilbo ran this picture of Sohn at the victory ceremony with the Japanese rising sun on his uniform obscured, leading to repercussions from the Japanese government
The men's marathon event at the 1936 Summer Olympic Games took place August 9. Fifty-six athletes from 27 nations competed.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The race was won by Sohn Kee-chung, a Korean athlete competing for Japan as the country was under Japanese occupation; Sohn refused to acknowledge the Japanese anthem at the victory ceremony.[2] Sohn was the first Korean athlete to win an Olympic gold medal, though the medal remains credited as Japan's first victory in the Olympic marathon.[1] Finland (barely) missed the marathon podium for the first time since World War I, with its top two runners placing 4th and 5th.
Korean athletes
During the time of the competition, Korea was a colony of Japan, therefore Korean sportsmen competed as members of Japanese team and were using their Japanese names. The Korean names of Son Kitei and Nan Shōryū are Sohn Kee-chung and Nam Sung-yong respectively. After Sohn's victory, he bowed his head during the Japanese anthem at his medal ceremony and remarked that he was ashamed to compete for Japan, an occupying power, rather than an independent Korea.[2] A Korean newspaper, The Dong-a Ilbo, obscured the Japanese rising sun symbol on Sohn's uniform in a photograph of the victory ceremony, resulting in the Japanese government suspending the newspaper and jailing some of its employees.[1]
Background
This was the tenth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning runners from 1932 included the defending champion, Juan Carlos Zabala of Argentina, and tenth-place finisher Anders Hartington Andersen of Denmark. Sohn Kee-chung had broken the world record in 1935, won 9 of the 12 marathons he had run since 1933, and finished in the top three in the other 3.[1]
Bulgaria, the Republic of China, Peru, Poland, and Switzerland each made their first appearance in Olympic marathons. The United States made its tenth appearance, the only nation to have competed in each Olympic marathon to that point.
Competition format and course
As all Olympic marathons, the competition was a single race. The now-standard marathon distance of 26 miles, 385 yards was run over a course that started in the Olympic Stadium. After going around the stadium, the starting field left the stadium through the Marathon Gate. The runners crossed the Maifeld and then turned right into the Angerburger Avenue. Shortly thereafter, it was then left into Glockenturmstraße and the first checkpoint after 4km on the Havelchaussee. They went on the banks of the Havel along the Grunewald to the left side. The second checkpoint was 6 kilometers on Rupenhorn, at kilometer 8 of the third control point followed on Schildhorn. The Grunewaldturm was reached after 10km, at the level of the island Lindwerder sending the runners southeast. At the end of Havelchaussee runners then turned left on the long, straight AVUS. The course went on the race track to the Nordschleife, there returned to the rotor field and the previous route ran back to the Olympic Stadium. The athletes came through the Marathon Gate back to the stadium and then ran for about 150 meters to the finish line.[3]
These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1936 Summer Olympics per the IAAF. The ARRS lists Sohn as having run 2:26:14 on 21 March 1935.[4]
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