The men's marathon was part of the
Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics
At the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, the athletics competition included 36 events, 24 for men and 12 for women. The women's 400 metres and women's pentathlon events were newly introduced at these Games. There were a total number of 1016 particip ...
program in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
. It was held on 21 October 1964. 79 athletes from 41 nations entered, with 68 starting and 58 finishing.
The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by
Abebe Bikila
''Shambel'' Abebe Bikila ( am, ሻምበል አበበ ቢቂላ; August 7, 1932 – October 25, 1973) was an Ethiopian marathon runner who was a back-to-back Olympic marathon champion. He is the first Ethiopian Olympic gold medalist, winnin ...
of Ethiopia, the first man to successfully defend Olympic gold in the marathon (and, indeed, the first to win two medals of any color in Olympic marathons). Unlike in 1960, he wore shoes this time. Great Britain earned its first marathon medal since 1948 with
Basil Heatley
Benjamin Basil Heatley (25 December 1933 – 3 August 2019) was a British competitive long-distance runner, who was an Olympic marathon silver medallist and former world marathon record-holder. Although he favoured cross country running, he wa ...
's silver; Japan took its first medal since 1936 with bronze by
Kōkichi Tsuburaya
(born ; May 13, 1940 January 9, 1968) was a Japanese athlete who competed mainly as a marathoner. Kokichi was also a 1st lieutenant in the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force.
Running career
Tsuburaya competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics held in To ...
.
Background
This was the 15th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning runners from the 1960 marathon included defending champion
Abebe Bikila
''Shambel'' Abebe Bikila ( am, ሻምበል አበበ ቢቂላ; August 7, 1932 – October 25, 1973) was an Ethiopian marathon runner who was a back-to-back Olympic marathon champion. He is the first Ethiopian Olympic gold medalist, winnin ...
of Ethiopia and ninth-place finisher
Osvaldo Suárez
Osvaldo Roberto Suárez (March 17, 1934 in Wilde – 16 February 2018) was a long-distance runner from Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of ...
of Argentina. Bikila was favored to repeat. Significant challengers were
Toru Terasawa of Japan (who had taken the world record from Bikila at the 1963
Beppu-Ōita Marathon and held it until the 1963
Polytechnic Marathon
The Polytechnic Marathon, often called the Poly, was a marathon held annually between 1909 and 1996, over various courses in or near London. It was the first marathon to be run regularly over the distance of 26 miles, 385 yards which is now the g ...
),
Leonard Edelen
Leonard Graves "Buddy" Edelen (September 22, 1937 – February 19, 1997) was an American marathoner. Based in England for most of his prime competitive years, in 1963 Edelen became the first man to run a marathon faster than 2 hours and 15 minu ...
of the United States (who had held the world record from the 1963 Polytechnic to the 1964 Polytechnic), and
Basil Heatley
Benjamin Basil Heatley (25 December 1933 – 3 August 2019) was a British competitive long-distance runner, who was an Olympic marathon silver medallist and former world marathon record-holder. Although he favoured cross country running, he wa ...
of Great Britain (the current world record, who had broken it at the 1964 Polytechnic).
Luxembourg, Nepal, Puerto Rico, Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia, Tanzania, Thailand, and Vietnam each made their first appearance in Olympic marathons. The United States made its 15th appearance, the only nation to have competed in each Olympic marathon to that point.
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 an out-and-back course. The course was very flat and straight.
[
]
Records
These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1964 Summer Olympics.
Abebe Bikila
''Shambel'' Abebe Bikila ( am, ሻምበል አበበ ቢቂላ; August 7, 1932 – October 25, 1973) was an Ethiopian marathon runner who was a back-to-back Olympic marathon champion. He is the first Ethiopian Olympic gold medalist, winnin ...
set a new world record at 2:12:11.2.
Schedule
All times are Japan Standard Time
, or , is the standard time zone in Japan, 9 hours ahead of UTC ( UTC+09:00). Japan does not observe daylight saving time, though its introduction has been debated on several occasions. During World War II, the time zone was often referred to a ...
(UTC+9
UTC+09:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +09:00.
During the Japanese occupations of British Borneo, Burma, Hong Kong, Dutch East Indies, Malaya, Philippines, Singapore, and French Indochina, it was used as a common time with ...
)
Results
Bikila broke the world's best time for the marathon by 1 minute 44 seconds set by runner-up Basil Heatley
Benjamin Basil Heatley (25 December 1933 – 3 August 2019) was a British competitive long-distance runner, who was an Olympic marathon silver medallist and former world marathon record-holder. Although he favoured cross country running, he wa ...
four months prior at the Polytechnic Marathon
The Polytechnic Marathon, often called the Poly, was a marathon held annually between 1909 and 1996, over various courses in or near London. It was the first marathon to be run regularly over the distance of 26 miles, 385 yards which is now the g ...
to defend his Olympic gold medal.
References
External links
* Official Report
*
Marathon Info
{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics - Men's marathon
Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics
Marathons at the Olympics
Men's marathons
Oly
Oly may refer to:
* Oly, informal name for Olympia, Washington, United States
* OLY (: ), postnominals granted to participants in the Olympics
People with the name
* Oly (born 1992), American singer-songwriter and musician
* Oly Hicks (born 1968 ...
Men's events at the 1964 Summer Olympics