The men's marathon at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, was held on Sunday August 12, 1984. The race started at 5:00 pm local time. There were 107 competitors from 59 countries. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. A total number of 78 athletes completed the race.
| Men's marathon at the Games of the XXIII Olympiad | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Tickets for Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics | ||||||||||
| Venue | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | |||||||||
| Date | August 12 | |||||||||
| Competitors | 107 from 59 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 2:09:21 OR | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
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The race was won by Carlos Lopes of Portugal, giving Portugal its first medal in the men's marathon, as well as its first ever gold medal at the Olympics.[1] His time of 2:09:21 was the Olympic record for the next 24 years.[2] Ireland also won its first men's marathon medal, with John Treacy's silver. Great Britain returned to the podium for the first time since 1964 with Charlie Spedding taking bronze.
Background edit
This was the 20th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning runners from the 1980 marathon included silver medalist Gerard Nijboer of the Netherlands, sixth-place finisher Rodolfo Gómez of Mexico, ninth-place finisher (and 1972 silver and 1976 bronze medalist) Karel Lismont of Belgium, and tenth-place finisher Robert de Castella of Australia. The two-time defending champion, Waldemar Cierpinski of East Germany, was prevented from trying for a third gold by the Eastern Bloc boycott.
The two favorites were de Castella (1981 Fukuoka winner, in world record time, and 1983 World Championships winner) and Toshihiko Seko of Japan (1981 Boston winner and 1978–1980 and 1983 Fukuoka winner).[3] Alberto Salazar of the United States had a strong 1980 to 1982 (1980–1982 New York winner and 1982 Boston winner),[4] but had less good results in 1983, and had finished second at the USA trials.[3]
Botswana, the Central African Republic, Cyprus, Djibouti, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, the Virgin Islands, and Zaire each made their first appearance in Olympic men's marathons; the Republic of China made its first appearance as Chinese Taipei. The United States made its 19th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.
Competition format and course edit
As all Olympic marathons, the competition was a single race. The marathon distance of 26 miles, 385 yards was run over a point-to-point route starting at Santa Monica College and ending at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.[4]
Records edit
These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1984 Summer Olympics.
| World record |  Robert de Castella (AUS) |
2:08:18 | Fukuoka, Japan | 6 December 1981 |
| Olympic record |  Waldemar Cierpinski (GDR) |
2:09:55.0 | Montreal, Canada | 31 July 1976 |
Carlos Lopes set a new Olympic record at 2:09:21.
Schedule edit
All times are Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)
| Date | Time | Round |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday, 12 August 1984 | 17:15 | Final |
Results edit
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Four medals for Portugal in Tokyo 2021". The Portugal News. 6 August 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
- ^ "Athletics at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games: Men's Marathon". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
- ^ a b 1984 - Looking back on one of the best U.S. Olympic marathon trials ever, Runner's World, January 10, 2012.
- ^ a b "Marathon, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
- ^ Mark A. Stein (August 13, 1984). "High-Tech Glitter Closes L.A. Games: Laser-Illuminated Ceremony Follows Finish of Marathon Before 92,655". Los Angeles Times – via Newspapers.com.
External links edit
- (in French) Marathon Info