Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon

American Frank Shorter, who was born in Munich, became the first from his country in 64 years to win the Olympic marathon. As Shorter was nearing the stadium, German student Norbert Sudhaus entered the stadium wearing a West German track uniform, joined the race and ran the last kilometre. Thinking he was the winner, the crowd began cheering him before officials realized the hoax and Sudhaus was escorted off the track by security. Arriving 35 seconds later, Shorter was perplexed to see someone ahead of him and to hear the boos and catcalls that were meant for Sudhaus.

This was the third time in Olympic history that an American had won the marathon (after Thomas Hicks 1904 and Johnny Hayes 1908) — and in none of those three instances did the winner enter the stadium first.

This was the 17th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning runners from the 1968 marathon included defending champion Mamo Wolde (who had also run in 1964, along with his brother Demissie Wolde, who returned in 1972 after not competing in 1968), silver medalist Kenji Kimihara of Japan, fourth-place finisher İsmail Akçay of Turkey, seventh-place finisher Derek Clayton of Australia, and ninth-place finisher Akio Usami of Japan. Frank Shorter of the United States was favored after winning the Pan-American and Fukuoka marathons.[2]

Bolivia, Haiti, North Korea, Malawi, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Swaziland each made their first appearance in Olympic marathons. The United States made its 17th appearance, the only nation to have competed in each Olympic marathon to that point.

As all Olympic marathons, the competition was a single race. The marathon distance of 26 miles, 385 yards was run over a route created to resemble the mascot, Waldi. The course was arranged so that the head of the dog faced west, with athletes running counter-clockwise, starting at the back of the dog's neck and continuing around the ears. The mouth of the dog was represented by the path through the Nymphenburg Park, and its front feet were represented by the run through the Hirschgarten. The belly was the main downtown street in Munich, and its rear feet, rear end and tail were all in the English Garden, a parkland extending along the Isar River. The athletes continued along the back of the dog and entered the Olympic Stadium.[3]

These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1972 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

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

All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

• (in French) Marathon Info