Athletics at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon

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.

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
Waldemar Cierpinski
 East Germany
Frank Shorter
 United States
Karel Lismont
 Belgium
Athletics at the
1976 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
800 mmenwomen
1500 mmenwomen
5000 mmen
10,000 mmen
100 m hurdleswomen
110 m hurdlesmen
400 m hurdlesmen
3000 m
steeplechase		men
4×100 m relaymenwomen
4×400 m relaymenwomen
Road events
Marathonmen
20 km walkmen
Field events
Long jumpmenwomen
Triple jumpmen
High jumpmenwomen
Pole vaultmen
Shot putmenwomen
Discus throwmenwomen
Javelin throwmenwomen
Hammer throwmen
Combined events
Pentathlonwomen
Decathlonmen

Background

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

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

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

World record Derek Clayton (AUS)2:08:33.6Antwerp, Belgium30 May 1969
Olympic record Abebe Bikila (ETH)2:12:11.2Tokyo, Japan21 October 1964

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

Schedule

It rained throughout the race.

All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)

Date Time Round
Sunday, 31 July 197617:30Final

Results
RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
Waldemar Cierpinski East Germany 2:09:55OR
Frank Shorter United States 2:10:45
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
  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. "Marathon, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
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