Athletics at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon

The men's marathon event at the 1948 Summer Olympic Games took place on August 7. Forty-one athletes from 21 nations competed.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The race was won by Delfo Cabrera of Argentina, the nation's second victory in three Games (though the victories were 16 years apart).[2] Tom Richards's silver medal put Great Britain on the podium for the third time in a row, while Étienne Gailly earned Belgium's first marathon medal with his bronze.

Men's marathon
at the Games of the XIV Olympiad
Delfo Cabrera crossing the finish line
VenueStart and finish at Wembley Stadium
DatesAugust 7
Competitors41 from 21 nations
Winning time2:34:51.6
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Delfo Cabrera
 Argentina
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Tom Richards
 Great Britain
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Étienne Gailly
 Belgium
← 1936
1952 →
Official Video Highlights

Reminiscent of Dorando Pietri's final-lap ordeal when the Olympics were held in the same city 40 years earlier, Gailly entered the London stadium in first place, but was exhausted and running very slowly. He was passed first by Cabrera, then by Richards, but managed to hold on for the bronze medal. South African Johannes Coleman, who finished 4th in this race, had placed 6th in the last Olympic marathon in Berlin twelve years earlier.

Background

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This was the 11th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning runners from the pre-war 1936 marathon included sixth-place finisher Johannes Coleman of South Africa. There was no clear favorite, though Viljo Heino (world record holder in the 10,000 metres) "was considered someone to watch" as he made his marathon debut.[1]

Ireland, South Korea, and Turkey each made their first appearance in Olympic marathons. The United States made its 11th appearance, the only nation to have competed in each Olympic marathon to that point.

Competition format and course

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As all Olympic marathons, the competition was a single race. The 1908 course (the first Olympic marathon at the now-standard marathon distance of 26 miles, 385 yards) was not used. Instead, a course was designed that "started and finished at Wembley Stadium, looping thru the London suburbs."[1]

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1948 Summer Olympics.

World record   Suh Yun-bok (KOR) 2:25:39 Boston, United States 19 April 1947
Olympic record   Sohn Kee-chung (JPN) 2:29:19.2 Berlin, Germany 9 August 1936

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

Schedule

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All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Date Time Round
Saturday, 7 August 1948 15:00 Final

Results

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Rank Athlete Nation Time
  Delfo Cabrera   Argentina 2:34:51.6
  Tom Richards   Great Britain 2:35:07.6
  Étienne Gailly   Belgium 2:35:33.6
4 Johannes Coleman   South Africa 2:36:06.0
5 Eusebio Guiñez   Argentina 2:36:36.0
6 Syd Luyt   South Africa 2:38:11.0
7 Gustav Östling   Sweden 2:38:40.6
8 John Systad   Norway 2:38:41.0
9 Armando Sensini   Argentina 2:39:30.0
10 Henning Larsen   Denmark 2:41:22.0
11 Viljo Heino   Finland 2:41:32.0
12 Anders Melin   Sweden 2:42:20.0
13 Jussi Kurikkala   Finland 2:42:48.0
14 Ted Vogel   United States 2:45:27.0
15 Enrique Inostroza   Chile 2:47:48.0
16 Lloyd Evans   Canada 2:48:07.0
17 Gérard Côté   Canada 2:48:31.0
18 Stylianos Kyriakides   Greece 2:49:00.0
19 József Kiss   Hungary 2:50:20.0
20 Şevki Koru   Turkey 2:51:07.0
21 Johnny Kelley   United States 2:51:56.0
22 Kaspar Schiesser   Switzerland 2:52:09.0
23 Walter Fedorick   Canada 2:52:12.0
24 Ollie Manninen   United States 2:56:49.0
25 Hong Jong-o   South Korea 2:56:54.0
26 Paddy Mulvihill   Ireland 2:57:35.0
27 Suh Yun-bok   South Korea 2:59:36.0
28 Sven Håkansson   Sweden 3:00:09.0
29 Jakob Jutz   Switzerland 3:03:55.0
30 Stan Jones   Great Britain 3:09:16.0
Salvatore Costantino   Italy DNF
Pierre Cousin   France DNF
Hans Frischknecht   Switzerland DNF
Mikko Hietanen   Finland DNF
Jack Holden   Great Britain DNF
René Josset   France DNF
Lou Wen-ngau   Republic of China DNF
Arsène Piesset   France DNF
Athanasios Ragazos   Greece DNF
Chhota Singh   India DNF
Choi Yun-chil   South Korea DNF
José María Blay   Spain DNS
Charles Heirendt   Luxembourg DNS
István Simon   Hungary DNS

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Marathon, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  2. ^ "Athletics at the 1948 London Summer Games: Men's Marathon". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
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