Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon

The men's marathon at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico, was held on Sunday October 20, 1968. The race started at 15:00h local time. There were 75 competitors from 41 countries. Eighteen 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 Mamo Wolde of Ethiopia, the nation's third consecutive gold medal in the Olympic marathon (matching France for most golds overall in the event).[citation needed]

Men's marathon
at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
Olympic Stadium (2016)
VenueEstadio Olímpico Universitario, Mexico City
DateOctober 20
Competitors75 from 41 nations
Winning time2:20:26
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Mamo Wolde
 Ethiopia
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Kenji Kimihara
 Japan
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Mike Ryan
 New Zealand
← 1964
1972 →
Official Video Highlights

Background

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This was the 16th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning runners from the 1964 marathon included two-time defending champion Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia, fifth-place finisher József Sütő of Hungary, and eighth-place finisher Kenji Kimihara of Japan. Abebe would have been favored but was recovering from an appendectomy and stress fracture. His countryman Mamo Wolde (who had run in 1964 but had not finished, while his brother Demissie Wolde finished 10th) was a "formidable contender," particularly with the high altitude of Mexico City seen as being favorable to the Ethiopian team, used to high altitudes.[2]

Costa Rica, Guyana, Kuwait, Nigeria, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Uruguay, and Zambia each made their first appearance in Olympic marathons; East and West Germany competed separately for the first time. The United States made its 16th 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 marathon distance of 26 miles, 385 yards was run over a point-to-point course. The course ran from the Zócalo to the Olympic Stadium.[2]

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1968 Summer Olympics.

World record   Derek Clayton (AUS) 2:09:36.4 Fukuoka, Japan 3 December 1967
Olympic record   Abebe Bikila (ETH) 2:12:11.2 Tokyo, Japan 21 October 1964

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

Schedule

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All times are Central Standard Time (UTC-6)

Date Time Round
Sunday, 18 October 1968 15:00 Final

Results

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Rank Athlete Nation Time
  Mamo Wolde   Ethiopia 2:20:26
  Kenji Kimihara   Japan 2:23:31
  Mike Ryan   New Zealand 2:23:45
4 İsmail Akçay   Turkey 2:25:18
5 Bill Adcocks   Great Britain 2:25:33
6 Gabrou Merawi   Ethiopia 2:27:16
7 Derek Clayton   Australia 2:27:23
8 Tim Johnston   Great Britain 2:28:04
9 Akio Usami   Japan 2:28:06
10 Andy Boychuk   Canada 2:28:40
11 Gaston Roelants   Belgium 2:29:04
12 Pat McMahon   Ireland 2:29:21
13 Alfredo Peñaloza   Mexico 2:29:48
14 Kenny Moore   United States 2:29:49
15 Jürgen Busch   East Germany 2:30:42
16 George Young   United States 2:31:15
17 Manfred Steffny   West Germany 2:31:23
18 Thin Sumbwegam   Burma 2:32:22
19 Naftali Temu   Kenya 2:32:36
20 Maurice Peiren   Belgium 2:32:49
21 Antonio Ambu   Italy 2:33:19
22 Ron Daws   United States 2:33:53
23 Karl-Heinz Sievers   West Germany 2:34:11
24 Gyula Tóth   Hungary 2:34:49
25 Hüseyin Aktaş   Turkey 2:35:09
26 Pablo Garrido   Mexico 2:35:47
27 Aad Steylen   Netherlands 2:37:42
28 Anatoly Sukharkov   Soviet Union 2:38:07
29 Lee Myeong-jeong   South Korea 2:38:52
30 Ivaylo Sharankov   Bulgaria 2:39:49
31 Gioacchino De Palma   Italy 2:39:58
32 Josef Gwerder   Switzerland 2:40:16
33 Hubert Riesner   West Germany 2:41:29
34 Georg Olsen   Denmark 2:42:24
35 Douglas Zinkala   Zambia 2:42:51
36. Ezequiel Baeza   Chile 2:43:15
37 Dave McKenzie   New Zealand 2:43:36
38 Kim Bong-nae   South Korea 2:43:56
39 Carlos Cuque   Guatemala 2:45:20
40 Godwin Kalimbwe   Zambia 2:45:26
41 Mick Molloy   Ireland 2:48:13
42 Nikola Simeonov   Bulgaria 2:48:30
43 John Farrington   Australia 2:50:16
44 Helmut Kunisch   Switzerland 2:50:58
45 Alifu Massaquoi   Sierra Leone 2:52:28
46 Lee Sang-Hoon   South Korea 2:52:46
47 Hla Thein   Burma 2:54:03
48 Paul Mose   Kenya 2:55:17
49 Benjamin Silva-Netto   Philippines 2:56:19
50 Harry Prowell   Guyana 2:57:01
51 Wimalasena Perera   Ceylon 2:59:05
52 Fulgencio Hernández   Guatemala 3:00:40
53 Gustavo Gutiérrez   Ecuador 3:03:07
54 Martin Ande   Nigeria 3:03:47
55 Mustafa Musa   Uganda 3:04:53
56 Enoch Muemba   Zambia 3:06:16
57 John Stephen Akhwari   Tanzania 3:25:17
Carlos Pérez   Spain DNF
Rafael Pérez   Costa Rica DNF
Abebe Bikila   Ethiopia DNF
Jerome Drayton   Canada DNF
Pentti Rummakko   Finland DNF
Guy Texereau   France DNF
René Combes   France DNF
Jim Alder   Great Britain DNF
Lajos Mecser   Hungary DNF
József Sütő   Hungary DNF
Seiichiro Sasaki   Japan DNF
Mraljeb Ayed Mansoor   Kuwait DNF
Saoud Obaid Daifallah   Kuwait DNF
José García   Mexico DNF
Edgar Friedli   Switzerland DNF
Mukhamed Shakirov   Soviet Union DNF
Armando González   Uruguay DNF
Nedo Farčić   Yugoslavia DNF
Hernán Barreneche   Colombia DNS
Ton Eykenboom   Netherlands DNS
Mohammed Gammoudi   Tunisia DNS
Jürgen Haase   East Germany DNS
Jouko Kuha   Finland DNS
Ettore Milone   Italy DNS
Edward Stawiarz   Poland DNS
Yury Volkov   Soviet Union DNS

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1968 Mexico City Summer Games: Men's Marathon". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Marathon, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
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