Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon
Men's Marathon at the Games of the XXXI Olympiad | ||||||||||
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Venue | Sambódromo | |||||||||
Date | 21 August 2016 | |||||||||
Competitors | 155 from 79 nations | |||||||||
Winning time | 2:08:44 | |||||||||
Medalists | ||||||||||
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The men's marathon at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro took place on the Sambódromo on 21 August, the final day of the Games.[1] One hundred fifty-five athletes from 79 nations competed.[2] The event was won by Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya, the nation's second victory in the event in three Games. Feyisa Lilesa of Ethiopia took silver, while Galen Rupp of the United States took bronze. The defending champion going into the marathon was Ugandan Stephen Kiprotich.
Background
This was the 28th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Seven of the top ten runners from the 2012 marathon returned: gold medalist (and 2013 world champion)
Azerbaijan, Georgia, Panama, the Refugee Olympic Team, and Uzbekistan each made their first appearance in Olympic men's marathons. South Sudan made its first formal appearance, though it had had one runner appear as an Independent Olympic Athlete in 2012. The United States made its 27th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.
Summary
The race began at the Sambódromo in a light rain, with temperatures about 24 °C (75 °F). The field size of 155 starters was an Olympic Games record as well as the 140 finishers. The previous record was 124 starters and 111 finishers at the 1996 Olympic marathon in Atlanta. The 2016 race also had the most countries represented of any Olympic marathon and despite the weather conditions a record 62 men finished under 2:20:00 to show the quality and depth of the field.
The lead pack jogged comfortably through almost the first 15 kilometers, when
Eliud Kipchoge had previously won medals on the track in 2004 and 2008; this race marked the continuation of his successful transition to the marathon distance. The difference between this and his last half marathon was 1:02:49. Kipchoge was the only Kenyan finisher in the marathon.[4]
The sky remained overcast throughout the race. The streets remained wet. As Athens 2004 silver medalist Meb Keflezighi, aged 41, was about to cross the finish line in thirty-third place, he slipped. Head and shoulders crossing the finish line, he did a couple of push ups on the ground before righting himself and walking over the line. Later Mohammad Jafar Moradi's hamstring seized up before he reached the finish line. He ended up crawling across the line unassisted. Federico Bruno also cramped up before the entrance of the Sambadrome. He had to finish the entire distance hopping sideways. Derlis Ayala stopped several times to assist Bruno.
The gifts were presented by
Abdelmajid El Hissouf (originally 68th) was found guilty of a doping offence by the IAAF in 2017, and his sanction resulted in the annulment of this result; all those finishing behind him were moved up one place.
Demonstration
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 a course that started and finished at the Sambódromo.[2]
Records
Prior to this event, the existing world and Olympic records stood as follows.
World record | Dennis Kimetto (KEN) |
2:02:57 | Berlin, Germany | 28 September 2014 |
Olympic record | Samuel Wanjiru (KEN) | 2:06:32 | Beijing, China | 24 August 2008 |
No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.
Schedule
Time is in accordance with Brasília Time UTC−03:00
Date | Time | Round |
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21 August 2016 | 09:30 | Final |
Results
References
- ^ "Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 8 September 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
- ^ a b c "Marathon, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
- ^ "Rio Olympics 2016: Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge wins men's marathon". BBC Sport. 21 August 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
- ^ "Eliud Kipchoge powers to marathon gold as Callum Hawkins finishes ninth". Guardian. 21 August 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
- ^ Ethiopian runner makes protest sign as he crosses line in Rio. BBC News (2016-08-21). Retrieved on 2016-08-21.