Athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon
{{Infobox Olympic event
|event = Men's marathon 45km
|games = 1956 Summer
|image = File:Alain Mimoun (1956, vainqueur du marathon des JO).jpg
|caption = Alain Mimoun, winner
|venue = Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
|dates = December 1, 1956
|competitors = 46
|nations = 23
|longnames = yes
|gold = Alain Mimoun
|goldNOC = FRA
|silver = Franjo Mihalić
|silverNOC = YUG
|bronze = Veikko Karvonen
|bronzeNOC = FIN
|win_value = 2:25:00
|prev=1952
|next=1960
}}
{{AthleticsAt1956SummerOlympics}}
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.{{cite web |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1956/ATH/mens-marathon.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417172914/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1956/ATH/mens-marathon.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 April 2020 |title=Athletics at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's Marathon |access-date=2 May 2017 |work=sports-reference.com}} The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by 1 minute 32 seconds 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.
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.{{cite web |url=https://www.olympedia.org/results/59330 |work=Olympedia |title=Marathon, Men |access-date=27 August 2020}}
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
File:1956 Summer Olympics marathon.png
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.
Records
These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1956 Summer Olympics.
{{World Olympic Record
| world_athlete = {{flagathlete|Jim Peters|GBR}}
| world_mark = 2:17:39.4
| world_place = London, United Kingdom
| world_date = 26 June 1954
| olympic_athlete = {{flagathlete|Emil Zátopek|TCH|1952 Summer}}
| olympic_mark = 2:23:03.2
| olympic_place = Helsinki, Finland
| olympic_date = 27 July 1952
}}
No new world or Olympic bests were set during the competition.
Schedule
All times are Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10)
| class="wikitable" | ||
| Date
! Time ! Round | ||
|---|---|---|
| style=background:lemonchiffon
| Saturday, 1 December 1956 | 15:15 | Final |
Results
| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time |
| {{gold01}} | align=left| Alain Mimoun | align=left| {{flagIOC|FRA|1956 Summer}} | 2:25:00 |
| {{silver02}} | align=left| Franjo Mihalić | align=left| {{flagIOC|YUG|1956 Summer}} | 2:26:32 |
| {{bronze03}} | align=left| Veikko Karvonen | align=left| {{flagIOC|FIN|1956 Summer}} | 2:27:47 |
| 4 | align=left| Lee Chang-Hoon | align=left| {{flagIOC|KOR|1956 Summer}} | 2:28:45 |
| 5 | align=left| Yoshiaki Kawashima | align=left| {{flagIOC|JPN|1956 Summer}} | 2:29:19 |
| 6 | align=left| Emil Zátopek | align=left| {{flagIOC|TCH|1956 Summer}} | 2:29:34 |
| 7 | align=left| Ivan Filin | align=left| {{flagIOC|URS|1956 Summer}} | 2:30:37 |
| 8 | align=left| Evert Nyberg | align=left| {{flagIOC|SWE|1956 Summer}} | 2:31:12 |
| 9 | align=left| Thomas Nilsson | align=left| {{flagIOC|SWE|1956 Summer}} | 2:33:33 |
| 10 | align=left| Eino Oksanen | align=left| {{flagIOC|FIN|1956 Summer}} | 2:36:10 |
| 11 | align=left| Arnold Vaide | align=left| {{flagIOC|SWE|1956 Summer}} | 2:36:21 |
| 12 | align=left| Choi Chunk-Sik | align=left| {{flagIOC|KOR|1956 Summer}} | 2:36:53 |
| 13 | align=left| Paavo Kotila | align=left| {{flagIOC|FIN|1956 Summer}} | 2:38:59 |
| 14
|align=left| Mercer Davies | align=left| {{flagIOC|RSA|1956 Summer}}
|2:39:48 | ||
| 15
|align=left| Harry Hicks | align=left| {{flagIOC|GBR|1956 Summer}}
|2:39:55 | ||
| 16
|align=left| Hideo Hamamura | align=left| {{flagIOC|JPN|1956 Summer}}
|2:40:53 | ||
| 17
|align=left| Albert Richards | align=left| {{flagIOC|NZL|1956 Summer}}
|2:41:34 | ||
| 18
|align=left| John Russell | align=left| {{flagIOC|AUS|1956 Summer}}
|2:41:44 | ||
| 19
|align=left| Lothar Beckert | align=left| {{flagIOC|EUA|1956 Summer}}
|2:42:10 | ||
| 20
|align=left| Nick Costes | align=left| {{flagIOC|USA|1956 Summer}}
|2:42:20 | ||
| 21
|align=left| John J. Kelley | align=left| {{flagIOC|USA|1956 Summer}}
|2:43:40 | ||
| 22
|align=left| Muhamad Havlidar Aslam | align=left| {{flagIOC|PAK|1956 Summer}}
|2:44:33 | ||
| 23
|align=left| Adolf Gruber | align=left| {{flagIOC|AUT|1956 Summer}}
|2:46:20 | ||
| 24
|align=left| Aurèle Vandendriessche | align=left| {{flagIOC|BEL|1956 Summer}}
|2:47:18 | ||
| 25
|align=left| Keith Ollerenshaw | align=left| {{flagIOC|AUS|1956 Summer}}
|2:48:12 | ||
| 26
|align=left| Myitung Naw | align=left| {{flagIOC|BIR|1956 Summer}}
|2:49:32 | ||
| 27
|align=left| Pavel Kantorek | align=left| {{flagIOC|TCH|1956 Summer}}
|2:52:05 | ||
| 28
|align=left| Kurt Hartung | align=left| {{flagIOC|EUA|1956 Summer}}
|2:52:14 | ||
| 29
|align=left| Bashay Feleke | align=left| {{flagIOC|ETH|1956 Summer}}
|2:53:37 | ||
| 30
|align=left| Abdul Rashid | align=left| {{flagIOC|PAK|1956 Summer}}
|2:57:47 | ||
| 31
|align=left| Kanuti Sum | align=left| {{flagIOC|KEN|1956 Summer}}
|2:58:42 | ||
| 32
|align=left| Gebre Birkay | align=left| {{flagIOC|ETH|1956 Summer}}
|2:58:49 | ||
| 33
|align=left| Kurao Hiroshima | align=left| {{flagIOC|JPN|1956 Summer}}
|3:04:17 | ||
| rowspan=13 data-sort-value=34| —
|align=left| Giuseppe Lavelli | align=left| {{flagIOC|ITA|1956 Summer}}
|data-sort-value=4:00:00| {{abbr|DNF|Did not finish}} | ||
| align=left| Jan Barnard | align=left| {{flagIOC|RSA|1956 Summer}}
|data-sort-value=4:00:00| {{abbr|DNF|Did not finish}} | ||
| align=left| Ron Clark | align=left| {{flagIOC|GBR|1956 Summer}}
|data-sort-value=4:00:00| {{abbr|DNF|Did not finish}} | ||
| align=left| Eduardo Fontecilla | align=left| {{flagIOC|CHI|1956 Summer}}
|data-sort-value=4:00:00| {{abbr|DNF|Did not finish}} | ||
| align=left| Ali Baghbanbashi | align=left| {{flagIOC|IRI|1956 Summer}}
|data-sort-value=4:00:00| {{abbr|DNF|Did not finish}} | ||
| align=left| Boris Grishayev | align=left| {{flagIOC|URS|1956 Summer}}
|data-sort-value=4:00:00| {{abbr|DNF|Did not finish}} | ||
| align=left| Les Perry | align=left| {{flagIOC|AUS|1956 Summer}}
|data-sort-value=4:00:00| {{abbr|DNF|Did not finish}} | ||
| align=left| Juan Silva | align=left| {{flagIOC|CHI|1956 Summer}}
|data-sort-value=4:00:00| {{abbr|DNF|Did not finish}} | ||
| align=left| Albert Ivanov | align=left| {{flagIOC|URS|1956 Summer}}
|data-sort-value=4:00:00| {{abbr|DNF|Did not finish}} | ||
| align=left| Klaus Porbadnik | align=left| {{flagIOC|EUA|1956 Summer}}
|data-sort-value=4:00:00| {{abbr|DNF|Did not finish}} | ||
| align=left| Fred Norris | align=left| {{flagIOC|GBR|1956 Summer}}
|data-sort-value=4:00:00| {{abbr|DNF|Did not finish}} | ||
| align=left| Im Hwa-dong | align=left| {{flagIOC|KOR|1956 Summer}}
|data-sort-value=4:00:00| {{abbr|DNF|Did not finish}} | ||
| align=left| Dean Thackwray | align=left| {{flagIOC|USA|1956 Summer}}
|data-sort-value=4:00:00| {{abbr|DNF|Did not finish}} | ||
| rowspan=2 data-sort-value=47| —
|align=left| Demissie Gamatcho | align=left| {{flagIOC|ETH|1956 Summer}}
|data-sort-value=4:00:00| {{abbr|DNS|Did not start}} | ||
| align=left| Rudy Méndez | align=left| {{flagIOC|PUR|1956 Summer}}
|data-sort-value=4:00:00| {{abbr|DNS|Did not start}} |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20140413130544/http://www.olympic-museum.de/o-reports/report1956.htm Official Report]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927235921/http://todor66.com/olim/1956/Athletics/Men_Marathon.html Results]
{{OlympicsMarathon}}
{{Footer Olympic Champions Marathon Men}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics - Men's marathon}}