Paul Kibii Tergat is a Kenyan former professional long distance runner. He became the first Kenyan man to set the world record in the marathon in 2003, with a time of 2:04:55, and is regarded as one of the most accomplished long-distance runners of all time. Runnerworld called him the "Most comprehensive runner of all time".
Saúl Mendoza Hernández is a Mexican former wheelchair racer, who competed at the Olympic and Paralympic levels.
Kurt Harry Fearnley, is an Australian wheelchair racer, who has won gold medals at the Paralympic Games and 'crawled' the Kokoda Track. He has a congenital disorder called sacral agenesis which prevented fetal development of certain parts of his lower spine and all of his sacrum. In Paralympic events he is classified in the T54 classification. He focuses on long and middle-distance wheelchair races, and has also won medals in sprint relays. He participated in the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Paralympic Games, finishing his Paralympic Games career with thirteen medals. He won a gold and silver medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and was the Australian flag bearer at the closing ceremony.
The men's marathon event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 1 October 2000 in Sydney, Australia. One hundred athletes from 65 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Gezahegne Abera of Ethiopia, the nation's first victory in the event since winning three in a row from 1960 to 1968. Ethiopia's fourth gold medal in the men's marathon moved it out of a tie with France and the United States into sole possession of the most men's marathon gold medals. Ethiopia also became the first nation to have two medalists in the men's marathon in the same Games since South Africa did it in 1912, as Tesfaye Tola took bronze. Kenya won its third men's marathon medal in four Games with Erick Wainaina's silver. This made Wainaina the sixth man to earn two medals in the event, after his bronze in 1996.
The Men's Marathon T12 was held on September 17 at 7:30.
Australia has participated officially in every Paralympic Games since its inauguration in 1960 except for the 1976 Winter Paralympics.
El Salvador first competed in the Paralympic Games at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, Australia. It has participated in the Summer Paralympic Games every four years since that time. El Salvador has never taken part in the Winter Paralympics, and until Tokyo 2020, no Salvadorian had won a Paralympic medal. In 2021, Herbert Aceituno became the first athlete to win a medal, earning bronze in powerlifting at the 59 kg category.
Marathon events have been held at the Summer Paralympic Games, for both men and women, since the 1984 Summer Paralympics in Stoke Mandeville and New York City. They are held as part of the Paralympic athletics programme.
Heinrich Köberle, born in 1946, is a German athlete. He competes in wheelchair marathons in a handcycle, and has won four gold medals in marathons at the Paralympic Games - more than any other athlete. He holds the record for the fastest men's marathon in his disability category, set in Berlin in 1995, in 2:23:08.
The Men's marathon T10 was a marathon event in athletics at the 1996 Summer Paralympics, for totally blind athletes. Defending champion Carlo Durante of Italy took part, as did 1992 silver medallist Tofiri Kibuuka of Norway, and 1988 gold medallist Joerund Gaasemyr or Norway, holder of the Paralympic record in 2:45:48. Durante failed to defend his title, and took silver, finishing two and a half minutes behind Japan's Harumi Yanagawa, who had finished sixth four years earlier. The two Norwegians failed to obtain a place on the podium. Of the fourteen starters, eleven reached the finish line.
The Men's marathon T11 was a marathon event in athletics at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, for totally blind athletes. Defending champion and world record holder Carlos Amaral Ferreira of Portugal took part, along with sixteen other athletes, from a total of ten countries. No athlete had ever successfully defended his title in the men's fully blind marathon, and Ferreira failed to become the first; he took silver, finishing half a minute behind Japan's Yuichi Takahashi.
Marcel Eric Hug is a Paralympian athlete from Switzerland competing in category T54 wheelchair racing events. Hug, nicknamed 'The Silver Bullet', has competed in four Summer Paralympic Games for Switzerland, winning two bronze medals in his first Games in Athens in 2004. In 2010 he set four world records in four days, and at the 2011 World Championships he won a gold in the 10,000 metres and four silver medals, losing the gold in three events to long term rival David Weir. This rivalry continued into the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, where Hug won two silvers, in the 800m and the marathon. In the 2013 World Championships Hug dominated the field, winning five golds and a silver. During the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio, Hug was one of the most consistent competitors in the T54 class, winning two golds, in the 800 m and marathon, and two silvers medals, in the 1500m and 5000m.
Fabian John Blattman, OAM is an Australian Paralympic athlete. He became disabled after a motorbike accident. He started playing disabled bowls, before switching to athletics. As a Paralympic athletics competitor, he has set several world records and won two Paralympic gold medals.
Gregory Stephen Smith, OAM is an Australian Paralympic athlete and wheelchair rugby player who won three gold medals in athletics at the 2000 Summer Paralympics, and a gold medal in wheelchair rugby at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, where he was the flag bearer at the opening ceremony.
In India, the sport of athletics was introduced during the period of the British Raj. The sport is governed at national level by the Athletics Federation of India, which was formed in 1946. Despite its large population, few Indian athletes have won a medal in a global or major championship. This began to change in the 21st century, when Indians started taking greater interest in athletics more generally and improved facilities for the sport began to be built at a local level. At a continental level, it has been among the more successful Asian nations, though some distance behind China and Japan.
Michael Roeger is an Australian T46 athletics competitor. He competed at the 2008, 2012, and 2016 and 2020 Summer Paralympics athletics in middle distance and marathon running events. He has won one gold and three bronze medals at the IPC Athletics World Championships and a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. His gold in the Men's T46 marathon at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships was held as part of the London Marathon, set a new world record.
Stephen Kiprotich is a Ugandan long-distance runner, born in Kapchorwa District. He is an Olympic marathon champion, having won gold at the 2012 London Summer Olympics. He also won gold at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics. He is the second person, after Gezahegne Abera, to follow an Olympic marathon gold medal with a world championship gold medal for the same event.
Australia competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. Australia repeated its 2012 Summer Paralympics achievement in finishing fifth of the medal tally.
New Zealand competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. It was the nation's thirteenth appearance at the Summer Paralympics, having made its debut in 1968 and appeared in every edition since.
The Men's marathon T12 was a marathon event in athletics at the 2000 Summer Paralympics, for visually impaired athletes. Polish champion from the 1996 Games Waldemar Kikolski successfully defended his title in a world-record time of 2:33:11. Of the nine starters, six reached the finish line.
