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 1964 Olympics.jpg
Abebe Bikila with gold medal from the marathon
Venue Olympic Stadium, Tokyo
Dates21 October 1964
Competitors68 from 35 nations
Winning time2:12:11.2 WR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Abebe Bikila
Flag of Ethiopia (1897-1974).svg  Ethiopia
Silver medal icon.svg Basil Heatley
Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain
Bronze medal icon.svg Kōkichi Tsuburaya
Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan
  1960
1968  
Official Video Marathon Highlights Video on YouTube TV-icon-2.svg
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

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

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

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

World recordFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  Basil Heatley  (GBR)2:13:55 London, United Kingdom 13 June 1964
Olympic recordFlag of Ethiopia (1897-1936; 1941-1974).svg  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

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

DateTimeRound
Wednesday, 21 October 196413:00Final

Results

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.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg Abebe Bikila Flag of Ethiopia (1897-1974).svg  Ethiopia 2:12:11.2 WR , OR
Silver medal icon.svg Basil Heatley Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 2:16:19.2
Bronze medal icon.svg Kōkichi Tsuburaya Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 2:16:22.8
4 Brian Kilby Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 2:17:02.4
5 József Sütő Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 2:17:55.8
6 Leonard Edelen Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:18:12.4
7 Aurèle Vandendriessche Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 2:18:42.6
8 Kenji Kimihara Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 2:19:49.0
9 Ron Clarke Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:20:26.8
10 Demissie Wolde Flag of Ethiopia (1897-1974).svg  Ethiopia 2:21:25.2
11 Lee Sang-hun Flag of South Korea (1949-1984).svg  South Korea 2:22:02.8
12 Bakir Benaïssa Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco 2:22:27.0
13 Eino Oksanen Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 2:22:36.0
14 Billy Mills Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:22:55.4
15 Toru Terasawa Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 2:23:09.0
16 Kim Yun-Bum Flag of South Korea (1949-1984).svg  South Korea 2:24:40.6
17 Giorgio Jegher Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2:24:45.2
18 Václav Chudomel Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 2:24:46.8
19 Ron Hill Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 2:25:34.4
20 Paavo Pystynen Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 2:26:00.6
21 Fidel Negrete Flag of Mexico (1934-1968).svg  Mexico 2:26:07.0
22 Nikolay Tikhomirov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 2:26:07.4
23 Pete McArdle Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:26:24.4
24 Heinrich Hagen Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 2:26:39.8
25 Pavel Kantorek Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 2:26:47.2
26 Nikolay Abramov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 2:27:09.4
27 Ray Puckett Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2:27:34.0
28 Eino Valle Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 2:27:34.8
29 Jeff Julian Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2:27:57.6
30 Ricardo Vidal Flag of Chile.svg  Chile 2:28:01.6
31 Robert Vagg Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:28:41.0
32 Guido Vögele Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 2:29:17.8
33 Balkrishan Akotkar Flag of India.svg  India 2:29:27.4
34 Jean Aniset Flag of Luxembourg.svg  Luxembourg 2:29:52.6
35 Thin Sumbwegam Flag of Burma (1948-1974).svg  Burma 2:30:35.8
36 Constantin Grecescu Flag of Romania (1952-1965).svg  Romania 2:30:42.6
37 Janos Pinter Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 2:30:50.2
38 Gerhard Hönicke Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 2:33:23.0
39 Manfred Naumann Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 2:33:42.0
40 Antonio Ambu Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2:34:37.6
41 Oskar Leupi Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 2:35:05.4
42 Ivan Keats Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2:36:16.8
43 Harbans Lal Flag of India.svg  India 2:37:05.8
44 Armando Aldegalega Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 2:38:02.2
45 Chrisantus Nyakwayo Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 2:38:38.6
46Constantino KapambweFlag of Northern Rhodesia (1939-1953).svg  Northern Rhodesia 2:39:28.4
47 Omari Abdallah Flag of Tanganyika.svg  Tanzania 2:40:06.0
48 Muhammad Youssef Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan 2:40:46.0
49 Naftali Temu Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 2:40:46.6
50 Ju Hyeong-gyeol Flag of South Korea (1949-1984).svg  South Korea 2:41:08.2
51 Mathias Kanda Flag of Rhodesia (1964).svg  Rhodesia 2:41:09.0
52 Anthony Cook Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:42:03.6
53 Víctor Peralta Flag of Mexico (1934-1968).svg  Mexico 2:44:23.6
54 Trevor Haynes Flag of Northern Rhodesia (1939-1953).svg  Northern Rhodesia 2:45:08.6
55 Abe Fornés Flag of Puerto Rico (1952-1995).svg  Puerto Rico 2:46:22.6
56 Robson Mrombe Flag of Rhodesia (1964).svg  Rhodesia 2:49:30.8
57 Laurent Chifita Flag of Northern Rhodesia (1939-1953).svg  Northern Rhodesia 2:51:52.2
58 Chanom Sirirangsri Flag of Thailand.svg  Thailand 2:59:25.6
Ganga Bahadur Thapa Flag of Nepal.svg  Nepal DNF2:23:41 at 40 km
Bhupendra Silwal Flag of Nepal.svg  Nepal DNF2:34:12 at 40 km
James Hogan Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg  Ireland DNF1:51:27 at 35 km
Viktor Baykov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union DNF1:39:13 at 30 km
Mohamed Hadheb HannachiFlag of Tunisia (1959-1999).svg  Tunisia DNF1:46:18 at 30 km
Andrew SoiFlag of Kenya.svg  Kenya DNF1:23:37 at 25 km
Osvaldo Roberto Suarez Flag of Argentina (1861-2010).svg  Argentina DNF1:09:00 at 20 km
Mamo Wolde Flag of Ethiopia (1897-1974).svg  Ethiopia DNF0:47:14 at 15 km
Hedhili Ben BoubakerFlag of Tunisia (1959-1999).svg  Tunisia DNF0:47:51 at 15 km
Nguyễn Văn Lý Flag of South Vietnam.svg  Vietnam DNF1:02:51 at 15 km
Jean Louis BrougierFlag of France.svg  France DNS
Dumitru ChitobanFlag of Romania (1952-1965).svg  Romania DNS
Suliman Fighi HassanFlag of Libya (1951-1969).svg  Libya DNS
Mohammed Gammoudi Flag of Tunisia (1959-1999).svg  Tunisia DNS
Alberto GarabitoFlag of Bolivia.svg  Bolivia DNS
Ranatunge Karunananda Flag of Ceylon (1951-1972).svg  Ceylon DNS
Bruce Kidd Flag of Canada (1957-1965).svg  Canada DNS
Lajos Mecser Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary DNS
Alejo MontanoFlag of Bolivia.svg  Bolivia DNS
Jean Randrianjatovo Flag of Madagascar.svg  Madagascar DNS
Ryoo Man-HyungFlag of North Korea (1948-1992).svg  North Korea DNS

References

  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. 1 2 "Marathon, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 27 August 2020.