Athletics at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon

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Men's marathon
at the Games of the XXI Olympiad
Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R0731-0135, Montreal, XXI. Olympiade, Waldemar Cierpinski.jpg
Waldemar Cierpinski, 1976 Summer Olympics men's marathon winner
Venue Olympic Stadium, Montreal
DateJuly 31
Competitors67 from 36 nations
Winning time2:09:55 OR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Waldemar Cierpinski
Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany
Silver medal icon.svg Frank Shorter
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Bronze medal icon.svg Karel Lismont
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium
  1972
1980  

The men's marathon at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada, was held on Saturday July 31, 1976. The race started at 17:30 local time. There were 67 competitors from 36 countries. Seven 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 Waldemar Cierpinski of East Germany, the first Olympic marathon medal by any German runner. Frank Shorter of the United States and Karel Lismont of Belgium became the third and fourth men to win a second medal in the event, each one place behind their 1972 results. Ethiopia's four-Games marathon medal streak ended, as the nation boycotted the Games.

Background

This was the 18th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning runners from the 1972 marathon included defending champion Frank Shorter of the United States, silver medalist Karel Lismont of Belgium, and eighth-place finisher Jack Foster of New Zealand. Shorter had also won four consecutive Fukuoka Marathons from 1971 through 1974 and was favored in this race. Significant contenders included his countryman Bill Rodgers (1975 Boston Marathon winner), Jerome Drayton of Canada (1975 Fukuoka winner), and Akio Usami (9th in 1968 and 12th in 1972) and Shigeru So of Japan. Lasse Virén had just finished defending the double in the 5000 metres and 10000 metres; having never run a marathon before, he entered this event hoping to match Emil Zátopek's 1952 triple. [2]

Bermuda, Honduras, Papua New Guinea, and Paraguay each made their first appearance in Olympic marathons. The United States made its 18th 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 route. [2]

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1976 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

Waldemar Cierpinski set a new Olympic best with 2:09:55.0.

Schedule

Contrary to previous report, it did not rain throughout the race (in-person account from attendant at miles 10, 24, and 25.9). Light rain was sporadic & occasional. Temperature was about 70F (20C) at 10 mile mark near famed hockey player Maurice Richard’s house.

All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)

DateTimeRound
Sunday, 31 July 197617:30Final

Results

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg Waldemar Cierpinski Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 2:09:55 OR
Silver medal icon.svg Frank Shorter Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:10:45
Bronze medal icon.svg Karel Lismont Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 2:11:12
4 Don Kardong Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:11:15
5 Lasse Virén Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 2:13:10
6 Jerome Drayton Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 2:13:30
7 Leonid Moseyev Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 2:13:33
8 Franco Fava Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2:14:24
9 Aleksandr Gotsky Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 2:15:34
10 Henri Schoofs Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 2:15:52
11 Shivnath Singh Flag of India.svg  India 2:16:22
12 Chang Sop-choe Flag of North Korea (1948-1992).svg  North Korea 2:16:33
13 Massimo Magnani Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2:16:56
14 Göran Bengtsson Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 2:17:39
15 Kazimierz Orzeł Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 2:17:43
16 Håkan Spik Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 2:17:50
17 Jack Foster Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2:17:53
18 Mario Cuevas Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 2:18:08
19 Rodolfo Gómez Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 2:18:21
20 Shigeru So Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 2:18:26
21 Noriyasu Mizukami Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 2:18:44
22 Anacleto Pinto Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 2:18:53
23 José de Jesús Flag of Puerto Rico (1952-1995).svg  Puerto Rico 2:19:34
24 Yuri Velikorodny Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 2:19:45
25 Jos Hermens Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 2:19:48
26 Jeffrey Norman Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 2:20:04
27 Jukka Toivola Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 2:20:46
28 Jørgen Jensen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 2:20:44
29 Mikhail Koussis Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Greece 2:21:42
30 Tom Howard Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 2:22:08
31 Keith Angus Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 2:22:18
32 Akio Usami Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 2:22:29
33 Rigoberto Mendoza Flag of Cuba (3-2).svg  Cuba 2:22:43
34 Fernand Kolbeck Flag of France.svg  France 2:22:56
35 Chris Wardlaw Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:23:56
36 Wayne Yetman Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 2:24:17
37 Hüseyin Aktaş Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 2:24:30
38 Veli Balli Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 2:24:47
39 James McNamara Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg  Ireland 2:24:57
40 Bill Rodgers Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:25:14
41 Hipólito López Flag of Honduras (before 2022).svg  Honduras 2:26:00
42 Danny McDaid Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg  Ireland 2:27:07
43 Eusebio Cardoso Flag of Paraguay (1954-1988).svg  Paraguay 2:27:22
44 Kim Chang-Son Flag of North Korea (1948-1992).svg  North Korea 2:27:38
45 Barry Watson Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 2:28:32
46 Agustin Fernández-Diaz Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain 2:28:37
47 Jerzy Gros Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 2:28:45
48 Jairo Cubillos Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 2:29:04
49 Luis Raudales Flag of Honduras (before 2022).svg  Honduras 2:29:25
50 Baikuntha Manandhar Flag of Nepal.svg  Nepal 2:30:07
51 Antonio Baños Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain 2:31:01
52 Koh Chun-son Flag of North Korea (1948-1992).svg  North Korea 2:31:54
53 Víctor Serrano Flag of Puerto Rico (1952-1995).svg  Puerto Rico 2:34:59
54 Günter Mielke Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 2:35:44
55 Neil Cusack Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg  Ireland 2:35:47
56 Tau John Tokwepota Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg  Papua New Guinea 2:38:04
57 Víctor Idava Flag of the Philippines (1936-1985, 1986-1998).svg  Philippines 2:38:23
58 Raymond Swan Flag of Bermuda (1910-1999).svg  Bermuda 2:39:18
59 John Kokinai Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg  Papua New Guinea 2:41:49
60 Lucio Guachalla Flag of Bolivia.svg  Bolivia 2:45:31
David Chettle Flag of Australia.svg  Australia DNF
Ross Haywood Flag of Australia.svg  Australia DNF
Rafael Mora Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia DNF
Santiago Manguan Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain DNF
Thancule Dezart Flag of Haiti (1964-1986).svg  Haiti DNF
Giuseppe Cindolo Flag of Italy.svg  Italy DNF
Kevin Ryan Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand DNF
Charles Olemus Flag of Haiti (1964-1986).svg  Haiti DNS
Ilie Floroiu Flag of Romania (1965-1989).svg  Romania DNS
Carlos Lopes Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal DNS
Gaston Roelants Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium DNS

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References

  1. "Athletics at the 1976 Montreal Summer Games: Men's Marathon". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Marathon, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 28 August 2020.