Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon

The men's marathon was part of the Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics program in Tokyo. It was held on 21 October 1964. 79 athletes from 41 nations entered, with 68 starting and 58 finishing.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia, the first man to successfully defend Olympic gold in the marathon (and, indeed, the first to win two medals of any color in Olympic marathons). Unlike in 1960, he wore shoes this time. Great Britain earned its first marathon medal since 1948 with Basil Heatley's silver; Japan took its first medal since 1936 with bronze by Kōkichi Tsuburaya.

Men's marathon
at the Games of the XVIII Olympiad
Abebe Bikila with gold medal from the marathon
VenueOlympic Stadium, Tokyo
Dates21 October
Competitors68 from 35 nations
Winning time2:12:11.2 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Abebe Bikila
 Ethiopia
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Basil Heatley
 Great Britain
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Kōkichi Tsuburaya
 Japan
← 1960
1968 →
Official Video Marathon Highlights Video on YouTube

Background

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This was the 15th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning runners from the 1960 marathon included defending champion Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia and ninth-place finisher Osvaldo Suárez of Argentina. Bikila was favored to repeat. Significant challengers were Toru Terasawa of Japan (who had taken the world record from Bikila at the 1963 Beppu-Ōita Marathon and held it until the 1963 Polytechnic Marathon), Leonard Edelen of the United States (who had held the world record from the 1963 Polytechnic to the 1964 Polytechnic), and Basil Heatley of Great Britain (the current world record, who had broken it at the 1964 Polytechnic).[2]

Luxembourg (not counting Michel Theato, the gold medalist in 1900 who was Luxembourg-born but registered as a French competitor) Nepal, Puerto Rico, Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia, Tanzania, Thailand, and Vietnam each made their first appearance in Olympic marathons. The United States made its 15th 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 course. The course was very flat and straight.[2]

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1964 Summer Olympics.

World record   Basil Heatley (GBR) 2:13:55 London, United Kingdom 13 June 1964
Olympic record   Abebe Bikila (ETH) 2:15:16.2 Rome, Italy 10 September 1960

Abebe Bikila set a new world record at 2:12:11.2.

Schedule

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All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

Date Time Round
Wednesday, 21 October 1964 13:00 Final

Results

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Bikila broke the world's best time for the marathon by 1 minute 44 seconds set by runner-up Basil Heatley four months prior at the Polytechnic Marathon to defend his Olympic gold medal.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
  Abebe Bikila   Ethiopia 2:12:11.2 WR, OR
  Basil Heatley   Great Britain 2:16:19.2
  Kōkichi Tsuburaya   Japan 2:16:22.8
4 Brian Kilby   Great Britain 2:17:02.4
5 József Sütő   Hungary 2:17:55.8
6 Leonard Edelen   United States 2:18:12.4
7 Aurèle Vandendriessche   Belgium 2:18:42.6
8 Kenji Kimihara   Japan 2:19:49.0
9 Ron Clarke   Australia 2:20:26.8
10 Demissie Wolde   Ethiopia 2:21:25.2
11 Lee Sang-hun   South Korea 2:22:02.8
12 Bakir Benaïssa   Morocco 2:22:27.0
13 Eino Oksanen   Finland 2:22:36.0
14 Billy Mills   United States 2:22:55.4
15 Toru Terasawa   Japan 2:23:09.0
16 Kim Yun-Bum   South Korea 2:24:40.6
17 Giorgio Jegher   Italy 2:24:45.2
18 Václav Chudomel   Czechoslovakia 2:24:46.8
19 Ron Hill   Great Britain 2:25:34.4
20 Paavo Pystynen   Finland 2:26:00.6
21 Fidel Negrete   Mexico 2:26:07.0
22 Nikolay Tikhomirov   Soviet Union 2:26:07.4
23 Pete McArdle   United States 2:26:24.4
24 Heinrich Hagen   United Team of Germany 2:26:39.8
25 Pavel Kantorek   Czechoslovakia 2:26:47.2
26 Nikolay Abramov   Soviet Union 2:27:09.4
27 Ray Puckett   New Zealand 2:27:34.0
28 Eino Valle   Finland 2:27:34.8
29 Jeff Julian   New Zealand 2:27:57.6
30 Ricardo Vidal   Chile 2:28:01.6
31 Robert Vagg   Australia 2:28:41.0
32 Guido Vögele   Switzerland 2:29:17.8
33 Balkrishan Akotkar   India 2:29:27.4
34 Jean Aniset   Luxembourg 2:29:52.6
35 Thin Sumbwegam   Burma 2:30:35.8
36 Constantin Grecescu   Romania 2:30:42.6
37 Janos Pinter   Hungary 2:30:50.2
38 Gerhard Hönicke   United Team of Germany 2:33:23.0
39 Manfred Naumann   United Team of Germany 2:33:42.0
40 Antonio Ambu   Italy 2:34:37.6
41 Oskar Leupi   Switzerland 2:35:05.4
42 Ivan Keats   New Zealand 2:36:16.8
43 Harbans Lal   India 2:37:05.8
44 Armando Aldegalega   Portugal 2:38:02.2
45 Chrisantus Nyakwayo   Kenya 2:38:38.6
46 Constantino Kapambwe   Northern Rhodesia 2:39:28.4
47 Omari Abdallah   Tanzania 2:40:06.0
48 Muhammad Youssef   Pakistan 2:40:46.0
49 Naftali Temu   Kenya 2:40:46.6
50 Ju Hyeong-gyeol   South Korea 2:41:08.2
51 Mathias Kanda   Rhodesia 2:41:09.0
52 Anthony Cook   Australia 2:42:03.6
53 Víctor Peralta   Mexico 2:44:23.6
54 Trevor Haynes   Northern Rhodesia 2:45:08.6
55 Abe Fornés   Puerto Rico 2:46:22.6
56 Robson Mrombe   Rhodesia 2:49:30.8
57 Laurent Chifita   Northern Rhodesia 2:51:52.2
58 Chanom Sirirangsri   Thailand 2:59:25.6
Ganga Bahadur Thapa   Nepal DNF 2:23:41 at 40 km
Bhupendra Silwal   Nepal DNF 2:34:12 at 40 km
James Hogan   Ireland DNF 1:51:27 at 35 km
Viktor Baykov   Soviet Union DNF 1:39:13 at 30 km
Mohamed Hadheb Hannachi   Tunisia DNF 1:46:18 at 30 km
Andrew Soi   Kenya DNF 1:23:37 at 25 km
Osvaldo Roberto Suarez   Argentina DNF 1:09:00 at 20 km
Mamo Wolde   Ethiopia DNF 0:47:14 at 15 km
Hedhili Ben Boubaker   Tunisia DNF 0:47:51 at 15 km
Nguyễn Văn Lý   Vietnam DNF 1:02:51 at 15 km
Jean Louis Brougier   France DNS
Dumitru Chitoban   Romania DNS
Suliman Fighi Hassan   Libya DNS
Mohammed Gammoudi   Tunisia DNS
Alberto Garabito   Bolivia DNS
Ranatunge Karunananda   Ceylon DNS
Bruce Kidd   Canada DNS
Lajos Mecser   Hungary DNS
Alejo Montano   Bolivia DNS
Jean Randrianjatovo   Madagascar DNS
Ryoo Man-Hyung   North Korea DNS

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games: Men's Marathon". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Marathon, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
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