Athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon

The men's marathon at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, was held on Saturday December 1, 1956. There were 46 participants from 23 nations, with 13 runners not completing the race.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Alain Mimoun of France, the nation's first Olympic marathon victory since 1928 and third overall. Yugoslavia took its first Olympic marathon medal with Franjo Mihalić's silver. Finland returned to the podium in the event for the first time since 1932 (the end of a four-Games medal streak for the nation) as Veikko Karvonen took bronze.

Men's marathon 45km
at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
Alain Mimoun, winner
VenueMelbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
DatesDecember 1
Competitors46 from 23 nations
Winning time2:25:00
Medalists
Alain Mimoun
 France
Franjo Mihalić
 Yugoslavia
Veikko Karvonen
 Finland

Background

This was the 13th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning runners from the 1952 marathon included defending champion Emil Zátopek of Czechoslovakia and fifth-place finisher Veikko Karvonen of Finland. Zátopek's primary challenger was Alain Mimoun of France, who had won three silver medals in the 5000 metres and 10000 metres track events in 1948 and 1952—all behind Zátopek. Mimoun was making his marathon debut. Zátopek, on the other hand, was still recovering from hernia surgery.[2]

Burma, Ethiopia, Iran, Kenya, and New Zealand each made their first appearance in Olympic marathons; Germany appeared for the first time as the "United Team of Germany". The United States made its 13th appearance, the only nation to have competed in each Olympic marathon to that point.

Competition format and course

Map of marathon 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 course, starting and finishing at the Olympic Stadium.[2]

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1956 Summer Olympics.

World record Jim Peters (GBR)2:17:39.4London, United Kingdom26 June 1954
Olympic record Emil Zátopek (TCH)2:23:03.2Helsinki, Finland27 July 1952

No new world or Olympic bests were set during the competition.

Schedule

All times are Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10)

Date Time Round
Saturday, 1 December 195615:15Final

Results

RankAthleteNationTime
Alain Mimoun France2:25:00
Franjo Mihalić Yugoslavia2:26:32
Veikko Karvonen Finland2:27:47
4Lee Chang-Hoon South Korea2:28:45
5Yoshiaki Kawashima Japan2:29:19
6Emil Zátopek Czechoslovakia2:29:34
7Ivan Filin Soviet Union2:30:37
8Evert Nyberg Sweden2:31:12
9Thomas Nilsson Sweden2:33:33
10Eino Oksanen Finland2:36:10
11Arnold Vaide Sweden2:36:21
12Choi Chunk-Sik South Korea2:36:53
13Paavo Kotila Finland2:38:59
14 Mercer Davies South Africa 2:39:48
15 Harry Hicks Great Britain 2:39:55
16 Hideo Hamamura Japan 2:40:53
17 Albert Richards New Zealand 2:41:34
18 John Russell Australia 2:41:44
19 Lothar Beckert United Team of Germany 2:42:10
20 Nick Costes United States 2:42:20
21 John J. Kelley United States 2:43:40
22 Muhamad Havlidar Aslam Pakistan 2:44:33
23 Adolf Gruber Austria 2:46:20
24 Aurèle Vandendriessche Belgium 2:47:18
25 Keith Ollerenshaw Australia 2:48:12
26 Myitung Naw Burma 2:49:32
27 Pavel Kantorek Czechoslovakia 2:52:05
28 Kurt Hartung United Team of Germany 2:52:14
29 Bashay Feleke Ethiopia 2:53:37
30 Abdul Rashid Pakistan 2:57:47
31 Kanuti Sum Kenya 2:58:42
32 Gebre Birkay Ethiopia 2:58:49
33 Kurao Hiroshima Japan 3:04:17
Giuseppe Lavelli Italy DNF
Jan Barnard South Africa DNF
Ron Clark Great Britain DNF
Eduardo Fontecilla Chile DNF
Ali Baghbanbashi Iran DNF
Boris Grishayev Soviet Union DNF
Les Perry Australia DNF
Juan Silva Chile DNF
Albert Ivanov Soviet Union DNF
Klaus Porbadnik United Team of Germany DNF
Fred Norris Great Britain DNF
Im Hwa-dong South Korea DNF
Dean Thackwray United States DNF
Demissie Gamatcho Ethiopia DNS
Rudy Méndez Puerto Rico DNS

References

  1. "Athletics at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's Marathon". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  2. "Marathon, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
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