Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon

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

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]

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
1st place, gold medalist(s) Josia Thugwane  South Africa 2:12:36
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Lee Bong-ju  South Korea 2:12:39
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 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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