Athletics at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon

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Men's marathon
at the Games of the XVII Olympiad
Rhadi Ben Abdesselam, Abebe Bikila, Barry Magee 1960.jpg
Venue Arch of Constantine, Rome
DatesSeptember 10
Competitors69 from 35 nations
Winning time2:15:16.2 WR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Abebe Bikila
Flag of Ethiopia (1897-1974).svg  Ethiopia
Silver medal icon.svg Rhadi Ben Abdesselam
Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco
Bronze medal icon.svg Barry Magee
Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand
  1956
1964  
Official Video Marathon Highlights Video on YouTube TV-icon-2.svg
Official Video Marathon Highlights Video on YouTube

The men's marathon at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, was held on Saturday September 10, 1960. There were 69 participants from 35 nations. [1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. Abebe Bikila, who ran the race barefoot, finished in world record time and became the first sub-Saharan African to win an Olympic gold medal. [2] All three of the medalists came from nations which had never before won an Olympic marathon medal. The winning margin was 25.4 seconds.

Background

This was the 14th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning runners from the 1956 marathon included gold medalist Alain Mimoun of France, silver medalist Franjo Mihalić of Yugoslavia, fourth-place finisher Lee Chang-hoon of South Korea, eighth-place finisher Evert Nyberg of Sweden, and tenth-place finisher Eino Oksanen of Finland. Sergei Popov of the Soviet Union, the world record holder and one of only two men (along with Jim Peters) to have run under 2 hours and 20 minutes, was favored. [3]

Ceylon, Liberia, Morocco, and Tunisia each made their first appearance in Olympic marathons. The United States made its 14th 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 marathon distance of 26 miles, 385 yards was run over a point-to-point course; it was the first marathon to neither start nor end at the Olympic Stadium. The course started at the Piazza di Campidoglio. It was a triangular loop, running along many of the wonders of Ancient Roma. The course passed along the Caracalla Baths, ran down the Appian Way, and finished under the Arch of Constantine. [3]

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1960 Summer Olympics.

World recordFlag of the Soviet Union.svg  Sergei Popov  (URS)2:15:17.0 Stockholm, Sweden 24 August 1958
Olympic recordFlag of the Czech Republic.svg  Emil Zátopek  (TCH)2:23:03.2 Helsinki, Finland 27 July 1952

Abebe Bikila set a new world record at 2:15:16.2; this record is still the record for barefoot running. [4]

Schedule

The 1960 marathon started so late that the course required torchlight for the runners to see. The last finisher arrived at nearly 9:15 p.m. local time. [3]

All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

DateTimeRound
Saturday, 10 September 196017:30Final

Results

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg Abebe Bikila Flag of Ethiopia (1897-1974).svg  Ethiopia 2:15:16.2 WR
Silver medal icon.svg Rhadi Ben Abdesselam Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco 2:15:41.6
Bronze medal icon.svg Barry Magee Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2:17:18.2
4 Konstantin Vorobyov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 2:19:09.6
5 Sergey Popov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 2:19:18.8
6 Thyge Thøgersen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 2:21:03.4
7 Abebe Wakgira Flag of Ethiopia (1897-1974).svg  Ethiopia 2:21:09.4
8 Bakir Benaïssa Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco 2:21:21.4
9 Osvaldo Suárez Flag of Argentina (1861-2010).svg  Argentina 2:21:26.6
10 Franjo Škrinjar Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg  Yugoslavia 2:21:40.2
11 Nikolay Rumyantsev Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 2:21:49.4
12 Franjo Mihalić Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg  Yugoslavia 2:21:52.6
13 Keith James Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg  South Africa 2:22:58.6
14 Pavel Kantorek Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 2:22:59.8
15 Gumersindo Gómez Flag of Argentina (1861-2010).svg  Argentina 2:23:00.0
16 Denis O'Gorman Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 2:24:16.2
17 Miguel Navarro Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain 2:24:17.4
18 Jeff Julian Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2:24:50.6
19 John J. Kelley Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:24:58.0
20 Lee Chang-hoon Flag of South Korea (1949-1984).svg  South Korea 2:25:02.2
21 Arnold Vaide Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 2:25:40.2
22 Gerry McIntyre Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg  Ireland 2:26:03.0
23 Olavi Manninen Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 2:26:33.0
24 Eino Oksanen Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 2:26:38.0
25 Arthur Keily Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 2:27:00.0
26 Tor Torgersen Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 2:27:30.0
27 Myitung Naw Flag of Burma (1948-1974).svg  Burma 2:28:17.0
28 Bruno Bartholome Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 2:28:39.0
29 Brian Kilby Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 2:28:55.0
30 Alex Breckenridge Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:29:38.0
31 Kurao Hiroshima Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 2:29:40.0
32 Kazumi Watanabe Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 2:29:45.0
33 Juan Silva Flag of Chile.svg  Chile 2:31:18.0
34 Alain Mimoun Flag of France.svg  France 2:31:20.0
35 Paul Genève Flag of France.svg  France 2:31:20.0
36 Frans Künen Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 2:31:25.0
37 Francesco Perrone Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2:31:32.0
38 Silvio De Florentis Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2:31:54.0
39 Linus Diaz Flag of Ceylon (1951-1972).svg  Ceylon 2:32:12.0
40 Lal Chand Flag of India.svg  India 2:32:13.0
41 Johannes Lauridsen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 2:32:32.0
42 Willie Dunne Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg  Ireland 2:33:08.0
43 Ian Sinfield Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:34:16.0
44 Arthur Wittwer Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 2:34:42.2
45 Jagmal Singh Flag of India.svg  India 2:35:01.0
46 Nobuyoshi Sadanaga Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 2:35:11.0
47 Lee Sang-cheol Flag of South Korea (1949-1984).svg  South Korea 2:35:14.0
48 Gordon McKenzie Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:35:16.0
49 Ahmed Labidi Flag of Tunisia (1959-1999).svg  Tunisia 2:35:43.0
50 Walter Lemos Flag of Argentina (1861-2010).svg  Argentina 2:36:55.0
51 Ray Puckett Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2:37:36.0
52 Dolfi Gruber Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 2:37:40.0
53 Antti Viskari Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 2:38:06.0
54 Allan Lawrence Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:38:46.0
55 Gordon Dickson Flag of Canada (1957-1965).svg  Canada 2:38:46.0
56 Lothar Beckert Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 2:40:10.0
57 Günter Havenstein Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 2:41:14.0
58 Evert Nyberg Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 2:42:59.0
59 Arap Sum Kanuti Flag of British East Africa.svg  Kenya 2:46:55.2
60 Ranjit Bhatia Flag of India.svg  India 2:57:06.0
61 Allal Saoudi Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco 2:59:41.0
62 Alifu Massaquoi Flag of Liberia.svg  Liberia 3:43:18.0
Hedi Dhaoui Flag of Tunisia (1959-1999).svg  Tunisia DNF
Vito Di Terlizzi Flag of Italy.svg  Italy DNF
Mouldi Essalhi Flag of Tunisia (1959-1999).svg  Tunisia DNF
Gerhart Hecker Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary DNF
Kim Yeon-beom Flag of South Korea (1949-1984).svg  South Korea DNF
Bertie Messitt Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg  Ireland DNF
Aurèle Vandendriessche Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium DNF
Constantin Grecescu Flag of Romania (1952-1965).svg  Romania DNS
Erik ÖstbyeFlag of Sweden.svg  Sweden DNS
Dave Power Flag of Australia.svg  Australia DNS
Tadeusz Starzyński-StarybratFlag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland DNS
Cyprian Tseriwa Flag of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.svg  Zimbabwe DNS

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References

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  2. Henry, Mike (2013). Black History: More Than Just a Month. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 68. ISBN   9781475802610 . Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 "Marathon, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  4. "Guinness World Records fastest marathon run in bare feet". www.guinnessworldrecords.com. Retrieved April 30, 2019.