Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon

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Men's marathon
at the Games of the XX Olympiad
2014 Olympiastadion Munich.jpg
Olympic Stadium (2014)
Venue Olympiastadion, Munich
DateSeptember 10
Competitors74 from 39 nations
Winning time2:12:19
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Frank Shorter
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg Karel Lismont
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium
Bronze medal icon.svg Mamo Wolde
Flag of Ethiopia (1897-1974).svg  Ethiopia
  1968
1976  

The men's marathon at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany was held on Sunday September 10, 1972. The race started at 15:00h local time. There were 74 competitors from 39 countries. Twelve of them did not finish. [1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Frank Shorter of the United States, the nation's first Olympic marathon victory since 1908 and third overall (matching France and Ethiopia for most golds in the event). Karel Lismont won Belgium's second medal in the marathon with his silver (after a bronze in 1948). Mamo Wolde of Ethiopia became only the second man, after his countryman Abebe Bikila, to win two medals in the marathon. Ethiopia's four-Games medal streak was matched only by Finland (1920–1932).

Summary

Frank Shorter, who was born in Munich, became the first American in 64 years to win the Olympic marathon, moving into the lead at 15km and never being challenged.

Unfortunately, Shorter was not the first runner to enter the Olympic stadium, as West German student Norbert Südhaus had run onto the Olympic course wearing a West German track uniform, and ran the last kilometre, including a full lap of the stadium. Thinking that Südhaus was the winner, the crowd began cheering him before officials realized the hoax. Shorter arrived 35 seconds later, as Südhaus was being escorted off the track by security, and was perplexed to see someone ahead of him, and to hear the booing and jeering (meant for Südhaus).

This was the third time in Olympic history that an American had won the marathon, after Thomas Hicks in 1904 and Johnny Hayes in 1908, and in none of those three instances did the winner enter the stadium first: Hicks, like Shorter, was preceded by a hoaxer, whereas Hayes was declared the winner after Dorando Pietri of Italy was disqualified for receiving illegal assistance.

Background

This was the 17th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning runners from the 1968 marathon included defending champion Mamo Wolde (who had also run in 1964, along with his brother Demissie Wolde, who returned in 1972 after not competing in 1968), silver medalist Kenji Kimihara of Japan, fourth-place finisher İsmail Akçay of Turkey, seventh-place finisher Derek Clayton of Australia, and ninth-place finisher Akio Usami of Japan. Frank Shorter of the United States was favored after winning the Pan-American and Fukuoka marathons. [2]

Bolivia, Haiti, North Korea, Malawi, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Swaziland each made their first appearance in Olympic marathons. The United States made its 17th 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 route created to resemble the mascot, Waldi. The course was arranged so that the head of the dog faced west, with athletes running counter-clockwise, starting at the back of the dog's neck and continuing around the ears. The mouth of the dog was represented by the path through the Nymphenburg Park, and its front feet were represented by the run through the Hirschgarten. The belly was the main downtown street in Munich, and its rear feet, rear end and tail were all in the English Garden, a parkland extending along the Isar River. The athletes continued along the back of the dog and entered the Olympic Stadium. [3]

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1972 Summer Olympics.

World recordFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Derek Clayton  (AUS)2:08:33.6 Antwerp, Belgium 30 May 1969
Olympic recordFlag of Ethiopia (1897-1936; 1941-1974).svg  Abebe Bikila  (ETH)2:12:11.2 Tokyo, Japan 21 October 1964

No new world or Olympic bests were set during the competition.

Schedule

All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

DateTimeRound
Sunday, 10 September 197215:00Final

Results

RankAthleteNationTime
Gold medal icon.svg Frank Shorter Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:12:19
Silver medal icon.svg Karel Lismont Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 2:14:31
Bronze medal icon.svg Mamo Wolde Flag of Ethiopia (1897-1974).svg  Ethiopia 2:15:08
4 Kenny Moore Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:15:39
5 Kenji Kimihara Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 2:16:27
6 Ron Hill Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 2:16:30
7 Donald MacGregor Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 2:16:34
8 Jack Foster Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2:16:56
9 Jack Bacheler Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:17:38
10 Lengissa Bedane Flag of Ethiopia (1897-1974).svg  Ethiopia 2:18:36
11 Seppo Nikkari Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 2:18:49
12 Akio Usami Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 2:18:58
13 Derek Clayton Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:19:49
14 Yury Velikorodnykh Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 2:20:02
15 Anatolijus Baranovas Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 2:20:10
16 Paul Angenvoorth Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 2:20:19
17 Richard Mabuza Flag of Swaziland.svg  Swaziland 2:20:39
18 Demissie Wolde Flag of Ethiopia (1897-1974).svg  Ethiopia 2:20:44
19 Reino Paukkonen Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 2:21:06
20 Colin Kirkham Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 2:21:54
21 Antonio Brutti Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2:22:12
22 Dave McKenzie Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2:22:19
23 Daniel McDaid Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg  Ireland 2:22:25
24 Renato Martini Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2:22:41
25 Eckhard Lesse Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 2:22:49
26 Jacinto Sabinal Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 2:22:56
27 Gyula Tóth Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 2:22:59
28 Fernand Kolbeck Flag of France.svg  France 2:23:01
29 Hernán Barreneche Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 2:23:40
30 Jørgen Jensen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 2:24:00
31 Manfred Steffny Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 2:24:25
32 Lutz Philipp Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 2:24:25
33 Ferenc Szekeres Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 2:25:17
34 Terry Manners Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2:25:29
35 Ihor Shcherbak Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 2:25:37
36 Yoshiaki Unetani Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 2:25:59
37 Kim Chang-son Flag of North Korea (1948-1992).svg  North Korea 2:26:45
38 Franco De Menego Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2:26:52
39 Agustín Fernández Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain 2:27:14
40 Edward Stawiarz Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 2:28:12
41 Armando Aldegalega Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 2:28:24
42 Desmond McGann Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg  Ireland 2:28:31
43 Carlos Cuque Flag of Guatemala.svg  Guatemala 2:28:37
44 Alfons Sidler Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 2:29:09
45 Alfredo Penaloza Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 2:29:51
46 Walter Van Renterghem Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 2:29:58
47 Donald Walsh Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg  Ireland 2:31:12
48 Álvaro Mejía Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 2:31:56
49 Ryu Man-hyong Flag of North Korea (1948-1992).svg  North Korea 2:32:29
50 Carlos Pérez Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain 2:33:22
51 Rafael Tadeo Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 2:35:48
52 Víctor Mora Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 2:37:34
53 Fernando Molina Flag of Argentina (1861-2010).svg  Argentina 2:38:18
54 Julio Quevedo Flag of Guatemala.svg  Guatemala 2:40:38
55 Ramón Cabrera Flag of Argentina (1861-2010).svg  Argentina 2:42:37
56 Matthews Kambale Flag of Malawi.svg  Malawi 2:45:50
57 Hla Thein Flag of Burma (1948-1974).svg  Burma 2:48:53
58 Ricardo Condori Flag of Bolivia.svg  Bolivia 2:56:11
59 Fulgence Rwabu Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda 2:57:04
60 Bhakta Bahadur Sapkota Flag of Nepal.svg  Nepal 2:57:58
61 Crispin Quispe Flag of Bolivia.svg  Bolivia 3:07:22
62 Maurice Charlotin Flag of Haiti (1964-1986).svg  Haiti 3:29:21
Gaston Roelants Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium DNF
Rodolfo Gómez Flag of Nicaragua.svg  Nicaragua DNF
İsmail Akçay Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey DNF
Nazario Araújo Flag of Argentina (1861-2010).svg  Argentina DNF
Juvenal Rocha Flag of Bolivia.svg  Bolivia DNF
Pekka Tiihonen Flag of Finland.svg  Finland DNF
Richard Juma Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya DNF
Jama Awil Aden Flag of Somalia.svg  Somalia DNF
Lucien Rosa Flag of Sri Lanka.svg  Ceylon DNF
Shag Musa Medani Flag of Sudan.svg  Sudan DNF
Julius Wakachu Flag of Tanzania.svg  Tanzania DNF
Jit Bahadur Khatri Chhetri Flag of Nepal.svg  Nepal DNF
Hüseyin Aktaş Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey DNS
Josef Jánský Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia DNS

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References

  1. "Athletics at the 1972 Munich Summer Games: Men's Marathon". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  2. "Marathon, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  3. Martin, David; Gynn, Roger (2000). The Olympic Marathon . Human Kinetics. p.  281. ISBN   978-0-88011-969-6.