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Athletics at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon

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Men's marathon
at the Games of the XXI Olympiad
Waldemar Cierpinski, 1976 Summer Olympics men's marathon winner
VenueOlympic Stadium, Montreal
DateJuly 31
Competitors67 from 36 nations
Winning time2:09:55 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Waldemar Cierpinski
 East Germany
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Frank Shorter
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Karel Lismont
 Belgium
← 1972
1980 →

The men's marathon at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada, was held on Saturday July 31, 1976. The race started at 17:30 local time. There were 67 competitors from 36 countries. Seven 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 Waldemar Cierpinski of East Germany, the first Olympic marathon medal by any German runner. Frank Shorter of the United States and Karel Lismont of Belgium became the third and fourth men to win a second medal in the event, each one place behind their 1972 results. Ethiopia's four-Games marathon medal streak ended, as the nation boycotted the Games.

Background

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This was the 18th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning runners from the 1972 marathon included defending champion Frank Shorter of the United States, silver medalist Karel Lismont of Belgium, and eighth-place finisher Jack Foster of New Zealand. Shorter had also won four consecutive Fukuoka Marathons from 1971 through 1974 and was favored in this race. Significant contenders included his countryman Bill Rodgers (1975 Boston Marathon winner), Jerome Drayton of Canada (1975 Fukuoka winner), and Akio Usami (9th in 1968 and 12th in 1972) and Shigeru So of Japan. Lasse Virén had just finished defending the double in the 5000 metres and 10000 metres; having never run a marathon before, he entered this event hoping to match Emil Zátopek's 1952 triple.[2]

Bermuda, Honduras, Papua New Guinea, and Paraguay each made their first appearance in Olympic marathons. The United States made its 18th 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 an out-and-back route.[2]

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1976 Summer Olympics.

World record  Derek Clayton (AUS) 2:08:33.6 Antwerp, Belgium 30 May 1969
Olympic record  Abebe Bikila (ETH) 2:12:11.2 Tokyo, Japan 21 October 1964

Waldemar Cierpinski set a new Olympic best with 2:09:55.0.

Schedule

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Contrary to previous report, it did not rain throughout the race (in-person account from attendant at miles 10, 24, and 25.9). Light rain was sporadic & occasional. Temperature was about 70F (20C) at 10 mile mark near famed hockey player Maurice Richard’s house.

All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)

Date Time Round
Sunday, 31 July 1976 17:30 Final

Results

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Waldemar Cierpinski  East Germany 2:09:55 OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Frank Shorter  United States 2:10:45
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Karel Lismont  Belgium 2:11:12
4 Don Kardong  United States 2:11:15
5 Lasse Virén  Finland 2:13:10
6 Jerome Drayton  Canada 2:13:30
7 Leonid Moseyev  Soviet Union 2:13:33
8 Franco Fava  Italy 2:14:24
9 Aleksandr Gotsky  Soviet Union 2:15:34
10 Henri Schoofs  Belgium 2:15:52
11 Shivnath Singh  India 2:16:22
12 Chang Sop-choe  North Korea 2:16:33
13 Massimo Magnani  Italy 2:16:56
14 Göran Bengtsson  Sweden 2:17:39
15 Kazimierz Orzeł  Poland 2:17:43
16 Håkan Spik  Finland 2:17:50
17 Jack Foster  New Zealand 2:17:53
18 Mario Cuevas  Mexico 2:18:08
19 Rodolfo Gómez  Mexico 2:18:21
20 Shigeru So  Japan 2:18:26
21 Noriyasu Mizukami  Japan 2:18:44
22 Anacleto Pinto  Portugal 2:18:53
23 José de Jesús  Puerto Rico 2:19:34
24 Yuri Velikorodny  Soviet Union 2:19:45
25 Jos Hermens  Netherlands 2:19:48
26 Jeffrey Norman  Great Britain 2:20:04
27 Jukka Toivola  Finland 2:20:46
28 Jørgen Jensen  Denmark 2:20:44
29 Mikhail Koussis  Greece 2:21:42
30 Tom Howard  Canada 2:22:08
31 Keith Angus  Great Britain 2:22:18
32 Akio Usami  Japan 2:22:29
33 Rigoberto Mendoza  Cuba 2:22:43
34 Fernand Kolbeck  France 2:22:56
35 Chris Wardlaw  Australia 2:23:56
36 Wayne Yetman  Canada 2:24:17
37 Hüseyin Aktaş  Turkey 2:24:30
38 Veli Balli  Turkey 2:24:47
39 James McNamara  Ireland 2:24:57
40 Bill Rodgers  United States 2:25:14
41 Hipólito López  Honduras 2:26:00
42 Danny McDaid  Ireland 2:27:07
43 Eusebio Cardoso  Paraguay 2:27:22
44 Kim Chang-Son  North Korea 2:27:38
45 Barry Watson  Great Britain 2:28:32
46 Agustin Fernández-Diaz  Spain 2:28:37
47 Jerzy Gros  Poland 2:28:45
48 Jairo Cubillos  Colombia 2:29:04
49 Luis Raudales  Honduras 2:29:25
50 Baikuntha Manandhar  Nepal 2:30:07
51 Antonio Baños  Spain 2:31:01
52 Koh Chun-son  North Korea 2:31:54
53 Víctor Serrano  Puerto Rico 2:34:59
54 Günter Mielke  West Germany 2:35:44
55 Neil Cusack  Ireland 2:35:47
56 Tau John Tokwepota  Papua New Guinea 2:38:04
57 Víctor Idava  Philippines 2:38:23
58 Raymond Swan  Bermuda 2:39:18
59 John Kokinai  Papua New Guinea 2:41:49
60 Lucio Guachalla  Bolivia 2:45:31
David Chettle  Australia DNF
Ross Haywood  Australia DNF
Rafael Mora  Colombia DNF
Santiago Manguan  Spain DNF
Thancule Dezart  Haiti DNF
Giuseppe Cindolo  Italy DNF
Kevin Ryan  New Zealand DNF
Charles Olemus  Haiti DNS
Ilie Floroiu  Romania DNS
Carlos Lopes  Portugal DNS
Gaston Roelants  Belgium DNS

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1976 Montreal Summer Games: Men's Marathon". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Marathon, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
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