Athletics at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon

Men's marathon
at the Games of the XXI Olympiad
Men's marathon; at the Games of the XXI Olympiad
	Waldemar Cierpinski, 1976 Summer Olympics men's marathon winner
Venue	Olympic Stadium, Montreal
Date	July 31
Competitors	67 from 36 nations
Winning time	2:09:55 OR
Medalists
	← 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

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)	2:08:33.6	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.

Zeitplan

It rained throughout the race.

All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)

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

Results

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Zeit	Notes
	Waldemar Cierpinski	East Germany	2:09:55	OR
	Frank Shorter	Vereinigte Staaten	2:10:45
	Karel Lismont	Belgien	2:11:12
4	Don Kardong	Vereinigte Staaten	2:11:15
5	Lasse Virén	Finnland	2:13:10
6	Jerome Drayton	Kanada	2:13:30
7	Leonid Moseyev	Soviet Union	2:13:33
8	Franco Fava	Italien	2:14:24
9	Aleksandr Gotsky	Soviet Union	2:15:34
10	Henri Schoofs	Belgien	2:15:52
11	Shivnath Singh	Indien	2:16:22
12	Chang Sop-choe	North Korea	2:16:33
13	Massimo Magnani	Italien	2:16:56
14	Göran Bengtsson	Schweden	2:17:39
15	Kazimierz Orzeł	Polen	2:17:43
16	Håkan Spik	Finnland	2:17:50
17	Jack Foster	Neuseeland	2:17:53
18	Mario Cuevas	Mexiko	2:18:08
19	Rodolfo Gómez	Mexiko	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	Niederlande	2:19:48
26	Jeffrey Norman	Great Britain	2:20:04
27	Jukka Toivola	Finnland	2:20:46
28	Jørgen Jensen	Dänemark	2:20:44
29	Mikhail Koussis	Griechenland	2:21:42
30	Tom Howard	Kanada	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	Frankreich	2:22:56
35	Chris Wardlaw	Australien	2:23:56
36	Wayne Yetman	Kanada	2:24:17
37	Hüseyin Aktaş	Türkei	2:24:30
38	Veli Balli	Türkei	2:24:47
39	James McNamara	Irland	2:24:57
40	Bill Rodgers	Vereinigte Staaten	2:25:14
41	Hipólito López	Honduras	2:26:00
42	Danny McDaid	Irland	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	Spanien	2:28:37
47	Jerzy Gros	Polen	2:28:45
48	Jairo Cubillos	Kolumbien	2:29:04
49	Luis Raudales	Honduras	2:29:25
50	Baikuntha Manandhar	Nepal	2:30:07
51	Antonio Baños	Spanien	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	Irland	2:35:47
56	Tau John Tokwepota	Papua-Neuguinea	2:38:04
57	Víctor Idava	Philippinen	2:38:23
58	Raymond Swan	Bermuda	2:39:18
59	John Kokinai	Papua-Neuguinea	2:41:49
60	Lucio Guachalla	Bolivien	2:45:31
—	David Chettle	Australien	DNF
	Ross Haywood	Australien	DNF
	Rafael Mora	Kolumbien	DNF
	Santiago Manguan	Spanien	DNF
	Thancule Dezart	Haiti	DNF
	Giuseppe Cindolo	Italien	DNF
	Kevin Ryan	Neuseeland	DNF
—	Charles Olemus	Haiti	DNS
	Ilie Floroiu	Rumänien	DNS
	Carlos Lopes	Portugal	DNS
	Gaston Roelants	Belgien	DNS