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Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon

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Official Video Highlights
Men's marathon
at the Games of the XXIII Olympiad
Tickets for Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics
VenueLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
DateAugust 12
Competitors107 from 59 nations
Winning time2:09:21 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Carlos Lopes
 Portugal
2nd place, silver medalist(s) John Treacy
 Ireland
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Charlie Spedding
 Great Britain
← 1980
1988 →

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.

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

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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[citation needed] 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

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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 a point-to-point route starting at Santa Monica College and ending at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.[4]

Records

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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

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All times are Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)

Date Time Round
Sunday, 12 August 1984 17:15 Final

Results

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Carlos Lopes  Portugal 2:09:21 OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) John Treacy  Ireland 2:09:56
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Charlie Spedding  Great Britain 2:09:58
4 Takeshi So  Japan 2:10:55
5 Robert de Castella  Australia 2:11:09
6 Juma Ikangaa  Tanzania 2:11:10
7 Joseph Nzau  Kenya 2:11:28
8 Djama Robleh  Djibouti 2:11:39
9 Jerry Kiernan  Ireland 2:12:20
10 Rod Dixon  New Zealand 2:12:57
11 Pete Pfitzinger  United States 2:13:53
12 Hugh Jones  Great Britain 2:13:57
13 Jorge González  Puerto Rico 2:14:00
14 Toshihiko Seko  Japan 2:14:13
15 Alberto Salazar  United States 2:14:19
16 Mehmet Terzi  Turkey 2:14:20
17 Shigeru So  Japan 2:14:38
18 Ralf Salzmann  West Germany 2:15:29
19 Henrik Jørgensen  Denmark 2:15:55
20 Hussein Ahmed Salah  Djibouti 2:15:59
21 Agapius Masong  Tanzania 2:16:25
22 Gidamis Shahanga  Tanzania 2:16:27
23 Eloi Schleder  Brazil 2:16:35
24 Karel Lismont  Belgium 2:17:07
25 Allan Zachariasen  Denmark 2:17:10
26 Michail Koussis  Greece 2:17:38
27 Pertti Tiainen  Finland 2:17:43
28 Alain Lazare  France 2:17:52
29 Vincent Ruguga  Uganda 2:17:54
30 Armand Parmentier  Belgium 2:18:10
31 César Mercado  Puerto Rico 2:19:09
32 Omar Abdillahi Charmarke  Djibouti 2:19:11
33 Øyvind Dahl  Norway 2:19:28
34 Derek Froude  New Zealand 2:19:44
35 Giovanni d'Aleo  Italy 2:20:12
36 Jesús Herrera  Mexico 2:20:33
37 Lee Hong-yeol  South Korea 2:20:56
38 Juan Camacho  Bolivia 2:21:04
39 Cor Vriend  Netherlands 2:21:08
40 Frans Ntaole  Lesotho 2:21:09
41 Johan Geirnaert  Belgium 2:21:35
42 Jacques Boxberger  France 2:22:00
43 Marco Marchei  Italy 2:22:38
44 Art Boileau  Canada 2:22:43
45 Samuel Hlawe  Swaziland 2:22:45
46 Baikuntha Manandhar  Nepal 2:22:52
47 Ahmed Mohamed Ismail  Somalia 2:23:27
48 Chae Hong-nak  South Korea 2:23:33
49 Joseph Otieno  Kenya 2:24:13
50 Bruno Lafranchi  Switzerland 2:24:38
51 Dick Hooper  Ireland 2:24:41
52 Derick Adamson  Jamaica 2:25:02
53 Claudio Cabán  Puerto Rico 2:27:16
54 Marc Agosta  Luxembourg 2:27:41
55 Wilson Theleso  Botswana 2:29:20
56 Alejandro Silva  Chile 2:29:53
57 Chen Chang-ming  Chinese Taipei 2:29:53
58 Kim Won-sik  South Korea 2:30:57
59 Rubén Aguiar  Argentina 2:31:18
60 Sabag Shemtov  Israel 2:31:34
61 Vincent Rakabaele  Lesotho 2:32:15
62 Marios Kassianidis  Cyprus 2:32:51
63 Arjun Pandit  Nepal 2:32:53
64 Ismael Mahmoud Ghassab  Jordan 2:33:30
65 Alain Bordeleau  Canada 2:34:27
66 Tau John Tokwepota  Papua New Guinea 2:36:36
67 Patric Nyambariro-Nhauro  Zimbabwe 2:37:18
68 Kimurgor Ngeny  Kenya 2:37:19
69 Amiri Yadav  Nepal 2:38:10
70 Adolphe Ambowode  Central African Republic 2:41:26
71 Carlos Ávila  Honduras 2:42:03
72 Jules Randrianarivelo  Madagascar 2:43:05
73 Abdul Lahij Ahmed  Somalia 2:44:39 The Los Angeles Times described Ahmed's Olympic finish as follows: "In one dramatic moment, Somalian runner Abdulahij Ahmed entered the stadium, obviously in pain. The stadium crowd rose to its feet, cheering wildly to encourage him to finish. He did."[5]
74 George Mambosasa  Malawi 2:46:14
75 Marlon Williams  Virgin Islands 2:46:50
76 Johnson Mbangiwa  Botswana 2:48:12
77 Leonardo Illut  Philippines 2:49:39
78 Dieudonné LaMothe  Haiti 2:52:18
Awadh Al-Sameer  Oman DNF
Ahmet Altun  Turkey DNF
Dave Edge  Canada DNF
Matthews Kambale  Malawi DNF
Ronald Lanzoni  Costa Rica DNF
Bigboy Matlapeng  Botswana DNF
Tommy Persson  Sweden DNF
Kjell-Erik Ståhl  Sweden DNF
Domingo Tibaduiza  Colombia DNF
Rodolfo Gómez  Mexico DNF
Gerard Nijboer  Netherlands DNF
Gerhard Hartmann  Austria DNF
Omar Aguilar  Chile DNF
Filippos Filippou  Cyprus DNF
Juan Carlos Traspaderne  Spain DNF
Santiago de la Parte  Spain DNF
Geoff Smith  Great Britain DNF
Nimley Twegbe  Liberia DNF
Miguel Angel Cruz  Mexico DNF
Cor Lambregts  Netherlands DNF
Stig Roar Husby  Norway DNF
Cidálio Caetano  Portugal DNF
Delfim Moreira  Portugal DNF
Ibrahim Al-Taher  Qatar DNF
Mehmet Yurdadön  Turkey DNF
Wilson Achia  Uganda DNF
John Tuttle  United States DNF
Masini Situ-Kumbanga  Zaire DNF
Tommy Lazarus  Zimbabwe DNF
Martti Vainio  Finland DNS

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Four medals for Portugal in Tokyo 2021". The Portugal News. 6 August 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  2. ^ "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.
  3. ^ a b 1984 - Looking back on one of the best U.S. Olympic marathon trials ever, Runner's World, January 10, 2012.
  4. ^ a b "Marathon, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  5. ^ 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.
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