Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon

The men's marathon at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta was held on Sunday, August 4, 1996. The race started at 07:05h local time to avoid excessively hot and humid conditions.[1] A total number of 111 athletes completed the race, with an injured and limping Abdul Baser Wasiqi from Afghanistan finishing in last position in 4:24:17.[2]

Men's marathon
at the Games of the XXVI Olympiad
Centennial Olympic Stadium (during the 1996 Paralympic Games)
VenueCentennial Olympic Stadium, Atlanta
DateAugust 4
Competitors124 from 79 nations
Winning time2:12:36
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Josia Thugwane
 South Africa
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Lee Bong-Ju
 South Korea
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Erick Wainaina
 Kenya
← 1992
2000 →
Official Video Highlights
@ 11:43

There were 124 competitors from 79 countries. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. Thirteen competitors did not finish.[3] The medal ceremony took place during the Closing Ceremony which they did again in Athens eight years later. The event was won by Josia Thugwane of South Africa, the nation's first victory in the Olympic men's marathon since 1912. South Korea's Lee Bong-ju won the silver, and Erick Wainaina of Kenya won bronze.

Summary

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There were few favorites in the event. The race started at an Olympic stadium and after 3 1/2 laps of the track they started on the out and back course through Atlanta. There was a large group of about 60 in front. It was not until mile 15 that things started to get stirred up. The South Africans made a wall at the front and proceeded to increase the pace. They were joined by Lee Bong-Ju. The race continued as such until mile 17. Josia Thugwane made a move and was joined by Lee Bong-Ju. Meanwhile, Erick Wainaina joined the two in front. The three switched leads several times until Thugwane made a move outside Olympic stadium. He took through the tunnel while Lee Bong-Ju passed Wainaina. It was the closest finish in Olympic history but Thugwane maintained his lead in the last mile to take the gold medal in 2:12:36. Lee Bong-Ju took silver and Wainaina bronze.

Background

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This was the 23rd appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning runners from the 1992 marathon included bronze medalist Stephan Freigang of Germany, fifth-place finisher Salvatore Bettiol of Italy, eighth-place finisher Hiromi Taniguchi of Japan, and ninth-place finisher Diego García of Spain. Martín Fiz of Spain was the reigning World and European champion. Belayneh Dinsamo of Ethiopia was the world record holder, but that record had been set 8 years previously. As in 1992, there was "no dominant male marathoner entering the 1996 Olympics and the race was considered wide-open."[4]

Afghanistan, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Mauritius, Moldova, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Yemen each made their first appearance in Olympic men's marathons. The United States made its 22nd appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

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 an out-and-back route starting and finishing at the Olympic Stadium. The course generally followed that of the Atlanta Marathon.[4]

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1996 Summer Olympics.

World record   Belayneh Dinsamo (ETH) 2:06:50 Rotterdam, Netherlands 17 April 1988
Olympic record   Carlos Lopes (POR) 2:09:21 Los Angeles, United States 12 August 1984

No new world or Olympic bests were set during the competition. The following national records were established during the competition:

Nation Athlete Round Time
  Yemen Mohamed Al-Saadi Final 2:40:41

Schedule

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The Olympic marathon, usually scheduled for afternoons or evenings at the Games' last day, began early in the morning in 1996 due to the anticipated heat and humidity of summer in Atlanta. The temperature by about 10 a.m. local time, as runners finished, was approximately 80 °F (27 °C) with 80% humidity.[4]

All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4)

Date Time Round
Sunday, 4 August 1996 7:05 Final

Results

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
  Josia Thugwane   South Africa 2:12:36
  Lee Bong-ju   South Korea 2:12:39
  Erick Wainaina   Kenya 2:12:44
4 Martín Fiz   Spain 2:13:20
5 Richard Nerurkar   Great Britain 2:13:39
6 Germán Silva   Mexico 2:14:29
7 Steve Moneghetti   Australia 2:14:35
8 Benjamín Paredes   Mexico 2:14:55
9 Danilo Goffi   Italy 2:15:08
10 Luíz Antônio dos Santos   Brazil 2:15:55
11 Carlos Grisales   Colombia 2:15:56
12 Kim Yi-Yong   South Korea 2:16:17
13 Tendai Chimusasa   Zimbabwe 2:16:31
14 António Pinto   Portugal 2:16:41
15 Dionicio Cerón   Mexico 2:16:48
16 Mwenze Kalombo   Zaire 2:17:01
17 Leszek Bebło   Poland 2:17:04
18 Alberto Juzdado   Spain 2:17:24
19 Hiromi Taniguchi   Japan 2:17:26
20 Salvatore Bettiol   Italy 2:17:27
21 Peter Fonseca   Canada 2:17:28
22 Rolando Vera   Ecuador 2:17:40
23 Roderic De Highden   Australia 2:17:42
24 José Luis Molina   Costa Rica 2:17:49
25 Domingos Castro   Portugal 2:18:03
26 Tahar Mansouri   Tunisia 2:18:06
27 Lawrence Peu   South Africa 2:18:09
28 Keith Brantly   United States 2:18:17
29 Thabisio Ralekhetla   Lesotho 2:18:26
30 Khristo Stefanov   Bulgaria 2:18:29
31 Bob Kempainen   United States 2:18:38
32 Harri Hänninen   Finland 2:18:41
33 Gert Thys   South Africa 2:18:55
34 Sean Quilty   Australia 2:19:35
35 Carey Nelson   Canada 2:19:39
36 Spyros Andriopoulos   Greece 2:19:41
37 Oleg Strizhakov   Russia 2:19:51
38 Kim Jung-won   North Korea 2:19:54
39 Bruce Deacon   Canada 2:19:56
40 Kim Jong-su   North Korea 2:20:19
41 Mark Coogan   United States 2:20:27
42 Hussein Ahmed Salah   Djibouti 2:20:33
43 Petro Sarafyniuk   Ukraine 2:20:37
44 Abdelkader El Mouaziz   Morocco 2:20:39
45 Bert van Vlaanderen   Netherlands 2:20:48
46 Manuel Matias   Portugal 2:20:58
47 Vanderlei de Lima   Brazil 2:21:01
48 Konrad Dobler   Germany 2:21:12
49 Borislav Dević   FR Yugoslavia 2:21:22
50 Davide Milesi   Italy 2:21:45
51 Aleksandrs Prokopčuks   Latvia 2:21:50
52 Lameck Aguta   Kenya 2:22:04
53 Diego García   Spain 2:22:11
54 Masaki Oya   Japan 2:22:13
55 Peter Whitehead   Great Britain 2:22:37
56 Ezequiel Bitok   Kenya 2:23:03
57 Hsu Gi-sheng   Chinese Taipei 2:23:04
58 Pavel Loskutov   Estonia 2:23:14
59 Rubén Maza   Venezuela 2:23:24
60 Steve Brace   Great Britain 2:23:28
61 Grzegorz Gajdus   Poland 2:23:41
62 Isaac Simelane   Swaziland 2:23:43
63 Nazirdin Alikbekov   Kyrgyzstan 2:23:59
64 Anders Szalkai   Sweden 2:24:27
65 John Mwathiwa   Malawi 2:24:45
66 Leonid Shvetsov   Russia 2:24:49
67 Eddy Hellebuyck   Belgium 2:25:04
68 Ahmed Adam Salah   Sudan 2:25:12
69 Ikaji Salum   Tanzania 2:25:29
70 Pavelas Fedorenka   Lithuania 2:25:41
71 Miguel Mallqui   Peru 2:25:56
72 Ethel Hudzon   Indonesia 2:26:02
73 Diamantino dos Santos   Brazil 2:26:53
74 Tika Bahadur Bogate   Nepal 2:27:04
75 Ronnie Holassie   Trinidad and Tobago 2:27:20
76 Joseph Tjitunga   Namibia 2:27:52
77 Valeriu Vlas   Moldova 2:28:36
78 Daniel Sibandze   Swaziland 2:28:49
79 Waldemar Cotelo   Uruguay 2:28:50
80 Petko Stefanov   Bulgaria 2:29:06
81 Abebe Mekonnen   Ethiopia 2:29:45
82 Luis Martínez   Guatemala 2:29:55
83 Sean Wade   New Zealand 2:30:35
84 Abderrahim Ben Redouane   Morocco 2:30:49
85 Abdou Monzo   Niger 2:30:57
86 Marcelo Barrientos   Chile 2:31:05
87 Antoni Bernardo   Andorra 2:31:28
88 Adel Adili   Libya 2:32:12
89 Carlos Tarazona   Venezuela 2:32:35
90 Tharcisse Gashaka   Burundi 2:32:55
91 Policarpio Calizaya   Bolivia 2:33:08
92 Simon Qamunga   Tanzania 2:33:11
93 Kenjiro Jitsui   Japan 2:33:27
94 António Zeferino   Cape Verde 2:34:13
95 Pamenos Ballantyne   Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 2:34:16
96 Kaleka Mutoke   Zaire 2:34:40
97 Ernest Ndjissipou   Central African Republic 2:35:55
98 Ali Ettounsi   Morocco 2:36:01
99 William Aguirre   Nicaragua 2:37:02
100 Roy Vence   Philippines 2:37:10
101 Mohamed Al-Saadi   Yemen 2:40:41 NR
102 Julio Hernández   Colombia 2:41:56
103 Ajay Chuttoo   Mauritius 2:42:07
104 Nils Antonio   Jamaica 2:44:10
105 To Rithya   Cambodia 2:47:10
106 Maximo Oliveras   Puerto Rico 2:47:15
107 Islam Ðugum   Bosnia and Herzegovina 2:47:38
108 Marlon Selwyn Williams   Virgin Islands 2:48:26
109 Eugene Muslar   Belize 2:51:41
110 Abdi Isak   Somalia 2:59:55
111 Abdel Baser Wasiqi   Afghanistan 4:24:17
Belayneh Dinsamo   Ethiopia DNF
Stephan Freigang   Germany DNF
Patrick Ishyaka   Rwanda DNF
Benjamin Keleketu   Botswana DNF
Kim Wan-Ki   South Korea DNF
Česlovas Kundrotas   Lithuania DNF
Omar Moussa   Djibouti DNF
Victor Razafindrakoto   Madagascar DNF
Antonio Silio   Argentina DNF
Julius Sumaye   Tanzania DNF
Tumo Turbo   Ethiopia DNF
Risto Ulmala   Finland DNF
Dainius Virbickas   Lithuania DNF

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Official Report
  2. ^ "Taleban hope to get ban revoked", Reuters, August 17, 2000
  3. ^ "Athletics at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games: Men's Marathon". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  4. ^ a b c "Marathon, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 29 August 2020.

References

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