The men's marathon event at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

took place on 1 October 2000 in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia. One hundred athletes from 65 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by

Gezahegne Abera Gezahegne Abera (Amharic: ገዛኸኝ አበራ; born April 23, 1978) is an Ethiopian athlete and winner of the marathon race at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Born in Etya, Arsi Province, Gezahegne's first international competition was ...

of Ethiopia, the nation's first victory in the event since winning three in a row from 1960 to 1968. Ethiopia's fourth gold medal in the men's marathon moved it out of a tie with France and the United States into sole possession of the most men's marathon gold medals. Ethiopia also became the first nation to have two medalists in the men's marathon in the same Games since South Africa did it in 1912, as Tesfaye Tola took bronze. Kenya won its third men's marathon medal in four Games with

Erick Wainaina Erick Wainaina (born December 19, 1973, in Nyahururu) is a Kenyan marathon runner, who won an Olympic bronze medal in 1996 and a silver medal in 2000. He finished seventh in the 2004 Summer Olympics marathon in Athens, making him one of the few ...

's silver. This made Wainaina the sixth man to earn two medals in the event, after his bronze in 1996.

Background

This was the 24th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning runners from the 1996 marathon included all three medalists (gold medalist

Josia Thugwane Josia Thugwane (born 15 April 1971) is a South African retired long-distance runner, best known for winning the gold medal in the marathon at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Thugwane, who is of Ndebele heritage, is the first black athlete to earn an O ...

of South Africa, silver medalist Lee Bong-Ju of South Korea, and bronze medalist

of Kenya) along with fourth-place finisher

Martín Fiz Martín Fiz Martín (born 3 March 1963 in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava) is a long-distance runner from Spain. Career Fiz won the marathon at the 1994 European Athletics Championships in Helsinki and repeated his success at the 1995 Worl ...

of Spain, seventh-place finisher

Steve Moneghetti Stephen James "Steve" Moneghetti, (born 26 September 1962), is an Australian long-distance runner and physical health consultant who has represented Australia on many occasions. Moneghetti has a degree in civil engineering, a graduate diploma ...

of Australia, and eighth-place finisher

Benjamín Paredes Benjamín Vencar Paredes Martínez (born August 7, 1961) is a Mexican former long-distance runner who specialized in the marathon, but who also competed in duathlons, even winning a silver medal for Mexico at the ITU-world championships in Fra ...

of Mexico. The Kenyan and Ethiopian teams were considered strong, but without any individual favorite.

Khalid Khannouchi Khalid Khannouchi () (born September 12, 1971) is a Moroccan-born American retired long-distance runner. He is the former world record holder for the marathon and held the former road world best for the 20 km distance. He is one of only five ...

of Morocco had set the world record in 1999, but earlier in 2000 had changed citizenship to the United States.

Abel Antón Abel Antón Rodrigo (born 24 October 1962 in Ojuel, Cabrejas del Campo, Soria) is a Spanish former long-distance runner on the track and road. Anton won back-to-back world championships in the marathon in 1997 and 1999. He was a sena ...

of Spain had won the last two world championships; he did compete in Sydney. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Federated States of Micronesia, Slovakia, and Tajikistan each made their first appearance in Olympic men's marathons; there was also one Independent Olympic Athlete from East Timor. The United States made its 23rd appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

Qualification

Each

National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...

was permitted to enter up to three athletes that had run 2:14:00 or faster during the qualification period. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. If an NOC had no athletes that qualified under that standard, one athlete that had run 2:20:00 or faster could be entered.http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/tfn_pdfs/ogqualifying_standards.pdf

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 point-to-point route starting at the North Sydney Oval and finishing at the Olympic Stadium.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 2000 Summer Olympics. No new world or Olympic bests were set during the competition. The following national records were established during the competition:

Schedule

All times are

Australian Eastern Standard Time Australia uses three main time zones: Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST; UTC+10:00), Australian Central Standard Time (ACST; UTC+09:30) and Australian Western Standard Time (AWST; UTC+08:00). Time is regulated by the individual states a ...

(

UTC+10 UTC+10:00 is an identifier for a UTC offset, time offset from UTC of +10:00. This time is used in: As standard time (year-round) Principal cities: Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Saipan, Dededo, Port Moresby, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold C ...

)

Results

References

External links

IAAF results
Retrieved 22 August 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 2000 Summer Olympics - Men's Marathon Marathon, men Marathons at the Olympics 2000 marathons Men's marathons Men's events at the 2000 Summer Olympics