At the 1896 Summer Olympics, the first modern Olympiad, twelve athletics events were contested. A total of 25 medals were awarded. The medals were later denoted as 37 modern medals. All of the events except the marathon were held in the Panathinaiko Stadium, which was also the finish for the marathon. Events were held on 6 April, 7 April, 9 April, and 10 April 1896. Altogether, 63 athletes, all men, from nine nations competed. This made athletics the most international of the nine sports at the 1896 Games.
The 1960 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad and commonly known as Rome 1960, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awarded the administration of the 1908 Summer Olympics, but following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1906, the city had no choice but to decline and pass the honour to London. The Soviet Union won the most gold and overall medals at the 1960 Games.
The 1912 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 6 July and 22 July 1912. The opening ceremony was held on 6 July.
Thore "Tore" Ingvar Sjöstrand was a Swedish steeplechase runner. He won a bronze medal at the 1946 European Championships and a gold at the 1948 Summer Olympics.
William Henry Rodgers is an American runner, Olympian, and former record holder in the marathon. Rodgers is best known for his four victories in both the Boston Marathon, including three straight from 1978 to 1980, and 4 straight wins in the New York City Marathon, between 1976 and 1979.
Eliud Kipchoge is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in the marathon and formerly specialized in the 5000 metres. Kipchoge is the 2016 and 2020 Olympic marathon champion, and was the world record holder in the marathon from 2018 to 2023, until that record was broken by Kelvin Kiptum at the 2023 Chicago Marathon. Kipchoge has run four of the 10 fastest marathons in history and is widely regarded as the greatest runner in the distance.
Lidiya Grigoryeva is a Russian long-distance runner from the Chuvashia region.
Olivera Jevtić is a Serbian long-distance runner. She has represented her country five times at the Olympics in 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016.
Sweden competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. 206 competitors, 183 men and 23 women, took part in 124 events in 17 sports.
Dragutin Tomašević was a Serbian track and field athlete and gymnast who competed in the men's marathon at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, the first Olympic Games in which Serbia participated. He was also chosen to be Serbia's flag bearer at that year's opening ceremony, thereby becoming the first Serbian to carry his country's flag at the Olympic Games.
Dorando Pietri was an Italian long-distance runner. He finished first in the marathon at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London but was subsequently disqualified.
Shizo Kanakuri was a Japanese marathon runner celebrated as the "father of marathon" in Japan. He holds the Guinness World Record for the longest time to complete a marathon with a time of 54 years 8 months 6 days 5 hours 32 minutes 20.3 seconds—Kanakuri retired from the men's marathon event at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics without informing the authorities, but Sveriges Television gave him the opportunity to complete his marathon 1967.
The men's marathon event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France. The marathon was held on Sunday, July 13, 1924. It was only the second Olympic marathon to use the distance of 42.195 km which was first used in 1908 and is now the standard marathon distance. Fifty-eight runners from 20 nations competed, with no more than 6 runners per nation. The event was won by Albin Stenroos of Finland, the nation's second consecutive Olympic marathon victory.
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. 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. All three of the medalists came from nations which had never before won an Olympic marathon medal. The winning margin was 25.4 seconds.
Paul William Evans is a former distance runner from England, who ran in the 10000m track final at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He took up running at 25, having been a footballer. He was a member of Belgrave Harriers and the City of Norwich Athletics Club.
The marathon at the 1952 Summer Olympics was held on 27 July on a course running from the Helsinki Olympic Stadium to Korso, Helsinki Rural Municipality and back. Sixty-six athletes from 32 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at three since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The winning margin was 2 minutes 31.8 seconds.
The men's marathon at the 1932 Summer Olympics took place on August 7. It started and finished at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Twenty-eight athletes from 14 nations competed. The 1930 Olympic Congress in Berlin had reduced the limit from 6 athletes per NOC to 3 athletes. The event was won by Juan Carlos Zabala of Argentina, the nation's first Olympic marathon medal. Great Britain also earned its first Olympic marathon medal with Sam Ferris's silver, while Finland made the marathon podium for a fourth consecutive Games as Armas Toivonen won bronze.
Isabellah Andersson is a Swedish-Kenyan distance runner. She resides in Vilshult in Sweden, and since May 2009 is a Swedish citizen. She competes for the club Hässelby SK.
The marathon at the Summer Olympics is the only road running event held at the multi-sport event. The men's marathon has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since the first modern Olympics in 1896. Nearly ninety years later, the women's event was added to the programme at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Thore Börjesson was a Swedish rower. He competed in the men's eight event at the 1952 Summer Olympics.
