1960 Summer Olympics / Athletics - Marathon (Men)
sport | athletics | ||||||||
discipline | Marathon run | ||||||||
gender | Men | ||||||||
Attendees | 69 athletes from 35 countries | ||||||||
Competition location | Piazza di Campidoglio (start) Arch of Constantine (finish, see photo) |
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Competition phase | September 10, 1960 | ||||||||
Winning time | 2: 15: 16.2 h ( WL ) | ||||||||
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The men's marathon at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome was held on September 10, 1960. 69 athletes took part, of which 62 made it to the finish line. For the first time, neither the start nor the finish of an Olympic marathon was not held in the Olympic Stadium. The run was the final decision in the athletics competitions of Rome.
The Ethiopian Abebe Bikila became Olympic champion . He won ahead of Moroccan Rhadi Ben Abdesselam and New Zealander Barry Magee .
Three Germans, one Austrian and one Swiss took part. Of the German runners, Bruno Bartholome came in 28th, Lothar Beckert in 56th and Günter Havenstein in 57th. The Swiss Arthur Wittwer came 44th, while the Austrian Adolf Gruber came 52nd.
Existing records
World best | 2: 15: 17.0 h | Sergei Popov ( Soviet Union ) | Stockholm , Sweden | August 24, 1958 |
Olympic record | 2: 23: 03.2 h | Emil Zátopek ( Czechoslovakia ) | Helsinki , Finland | July 27, 1952 |
Note: World records are not set in marathons due to the different track conditions.
Routing
After the start on the Piazza di Campidoglio , we went on the Via dei Fori Imperiali past the Colosseum to the Obelisk of Axum . The route then led over the Caracalla Baths and turned south on Via Cristoforo Colombo . The route followed the course of the road for almost thirteen kilometers. At the level of the park of the Castel Porziano estate there was a turning point, after which it was about 3.5 kilometers back via Via Cristoforo Colombo . Then the route turned right onto the Grande Raccordo Anulare and ran along the road for ten kilometers. Then it went left into the Via Appia Antica , which led to the northwest. After another ten kilometers, the Caracalla thermal baths were reached again. The goal of the run was at the Arch of Constantine .
Race course
Date: September 10, 1960
The Rome marathon was a competition with some unusual details. It was the first and so far only run at the Olympic Games that was neither started nor finished in the Olympic Stadium. In addition, it wasn't started until 5:30 p.m. at dusk. The final part with the finish took place in the dark, the track and the finish area were illuminated.
The favorite was the Soviet owner of the world's best Sergei Popov. But his compatriot Konstantin Vorobjow was also considered a serious contender for the Olympic victory.
The race was tackled quickly by Aurèle Vandendriessche from Belgium. He led a group that included British Arthur Keily, Ethiopian Abebe Bikila and Moroccan Rhadi Ben Abdesselam. Bikila, who walked barefoot to the amazement of the audience, and Ben Abdesselam had taken the lead at twenty kilometers. It stayed that way until shortly before the goal. At the high pace that the two runners maintained, no one was able to catch up again. Almost 500 meters from the finish, Bikila pulled away from the Moroccan and won the gold medal by 25 seconds.
Abebe Bikila won the first Olympic medal for Ethiopia. At the same time he was the first Olympic champion in his country.
The Moroccan Rhadi Ben Abdesselam and the New Zealander Barry Magee each won the first medal at the Olympic Games for their countries.
Bottom line
literature
- Ekkehard zur Megede : The History of Olympic Athletics. Volume 2: 1948-1968. 1st edition, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin 1969, p. 193 f.
Web links
- SportsReference Marathon , accessed October 12, 2017
- Official report (PDF, English), pp. 117–123, accessed on October 12, 2017
Videos
- Rome 1960 Olympic Marathon / Marathon Week , published April 22, 2015 on youtube.com, accessed October 12, 2017
Individual evidence
- ^ IAAF Statistics Handbook ( Memento from June 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF, English), Berlin 2009 p. 565.
- ^ Official report of the 1960 Olympic Games. Library.la84.org (PDF, English), p. 118, accessed on October 12, 2017.
- ^ Official report of the 1960 Olympic Games. Library.la84.org (PDF, English), p. 117, accessed on October 12, 2017.
- ↑ SportsReference Marathon (English).