The men's

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

at the

2016 Olympic Games ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro d ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

took place on the Sambódromo on 21 August, the final day of the Games. One hundred fifty-five athletes from 79 nations competed. The event was won by

Eliud Kipchoge Eliud Kipchoge ( ; born 5 November 1984) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in the marathon and formerly specialized at the 5000 metre distance. Widely regarded as the greatest marathon runner of all time, he is the 2016 and 2020 ...

of Kenya, the nation's second victory in the event in three Games.

Feyisa Lilesa Feyisa Lilesa (Afaan Oromo: Fayyisaa Leellisaa; born 1 February 1990) is an Oromo long-distance runner from Ethiopia. He became the youngest man to run under 2:06 when he ran 2:05:23 in the men's marathon at the 2010 Rotterdam Marathon. He se ...

of Ethiopia took silver, while

Galen Rupp Galen Rupp (born May 8, 1986) is an American long-distance runner. He competed in the Summer Olympics in 2008 in Beijing, 2012 in London, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and 2021 in Tokyo. He won the silver medal in the men's 10,000-meter run in Lon ...

of the United States took bronze. The defending champion going into the marathon was Ugandan

Stephen Kiprotich Stephen Kiprotich ("KIP-roh-tich", born 27 February 1989) is a Ugandan long-distance runner. He is an Olympic marathon champion, having won the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics. Kiprotich also won a gold at the 2013 World Championships in ...

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)

of Uganda, fourth-place finisher (and 2004 silver medalist)

Meb Keflezighi Mebrahtom "Meb" Keflezighi (; Ge'ez: መብራህቶም ክፍልእዝጊ, ''Mebrāhtōm Kifl'izgī''; born May 5, 1975) is a retired Eritrean-born American long distance runner. He is the 2004 Olympic silver medalist in the marathon and fin ...

of the United States, fifth-place finisher Marilson Dos Santos of Brazil, seventh-place finisher

Cuthbert Nyasango Cuthbert Nyasango (born 17 September 1982) is a Zimbabwean long-distance runner. He was born in Nyanga. Nyasango competed for Zimbabwe at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London where he placed seventh in the marathon and was the flag bearer for his ...

of Zimbabwe, eighth-place finisher Paulo Roberto Paula of Brazil, ninth-place finisher Henryk Szost of Poland, and tenth-place finisher

Ruggero Pertile Ruggero Pertile (born 8 August 1974 in Camposampiero) is an Italian long-distance runner who specialises in marathon running. He was the winner of the 2004 Rome City Marathon and has represented Italy internationally at three World Championsh ...

of Italy.

Ghirmay Ghebreslassie Ghirmay Ghebreslassie ( Ge'ez: ግርማይ ገብረስላሰ, born 14 November 1995) is an Eritrean long distance runner. He won the 2015 World Championships in Athletics marathon in Beijing, China, becoming the youngest winner of the race at ...

of Eritrea was the reigning world champion.

of Kenya was the favorite, with six major wins in the past four years after moving to the road from the track. 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 . 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

injected a little speed into the race. By that point the pack was 62 men, that went from a line across the street shoulder to shoulder to a string chasing the leader. 46 still were hanging onto the lead group at the halfway point. Nine more dropped off by 25K. Over the next 5K, the pace gradually increased, losing the defending champion

and reigning world champion

, though Ghebreslassie was hanging on off the back. At 30K there were only 8 still running together at the front.

Lemi Berhanu Lemi Berhanu Hayle, also known as Berhanu Lemi, ( Amharic: ለሚ ብርሃኑ ኃይሌ ; born 13 September 1994) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who specialises in the marathon. He competed in the marathon event at the 2015 World Cham ...

seemed to be leading the increase of speed, calling back for his teammate

to keep up. Within 2 km, the lead pack was down to four, the two Ethiopians, Kipchoge and

. In the next kilometer, Berhanu fell off the back. By 33K, the medalists were decided. At 35K, Rupp was just behind Lilesa and Kipchoge. Rupp lost contact at the following water station. Shortly after losing Rupp, Lilesa was immediately behind Kipchoge and apparently clipped his heels. Kipchoge was angry, motioning to Lilesa to run next to him, to use the rest of the street. Lilesa didn't respond, Kipchoge accelerated away. From that point, as the course snaked around buildings, the three leaders lost sight of each other as the gaps between them increased. Slightly less than a minute behind the leaders, Ghebreslassie was speeding past the other stragglers. At 40K, Kipchoge had 36 seconds over Lilesa, Rupp another 12 seconds back and Ghebreslassie 59 seconds behind Rupp. Over the lengthy straight finish, Kipchoge expanded his lead to 1:10, giving the thumbs up to the crowd as he finished at 2:08:44. Lilesa struggled but still held 11 seconds ahead of Rupp. Lilesa crossed his arms several times before crossing the finish line at 2:09:54 in solidarity of the protests of his ethnic Oromo people. Rupp finished at 2:10:05 still 59 seconds up on Ghebreslassie.

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. The sky remained overcast throughout the race. The streets remained wet. As Athens 2004 silver medalist

, 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 Federico Bruno (born 18 June 1993) is an Argentine middle- and long-distance runner. He is and weighs .Derlis Ayala Derlis Ramón Ayala Sanchez (born 7 January 1990) is a Paraguayan long-distance runner. Career Born in Ciudad del Este, he represented Paraguay at the South American Cross Country Championships in 2008, 2011, 2013 and 2014. He is a member of ...

stopped several times to assist Bruno. The gifts were presented by

Abby Hoffman Abigail Golda Hoffman, (born February 11, 1947) is a Canadian former track and field athlete. Hockey Hoffman is Jewish, and was born in Toronto. She learned to skate when she was three. In the mid-1950s when she was nine, she wanted to play h ...

, Council Member of the

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

immediately after the race. At the

closing ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

, the athletes were presented with the medals by

Thomas Bach Thomas Bach (born 29 December 1953) is a German lawyer, former Olympic foil fencer and Olympic gold medalist, serving as the ninth and current president of the International Olympic Committee since 10 September 2013. He is also a former memb ...

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

and

Sebastian Coe Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, (born 29 September 1956), often referred to as Seb Coe, is a British politician and former track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, including 1500 metres gold medal ...

, President of the IAAF. 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

of Ethiopia was the silver medalist and as he neared the line he crossed his arms above his head – a political gesture in solidarity with Oromo protests in Ethiopia. After the race he stated: "the Ethiopian government is killing my people so I stand with all protests anywhere as Oromo is my tribe. My relatives are in prison and if they talk about democratic rights they are killed."Ethiopian runner makes protest sign as he crosses line in Rio
BBC News (2016-08-21). Retrieved on 2016-08-21.

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.

Records

Prior to this event, the existing world and Olympic records stood as follows. No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

Schedule

Time is in accordance with Brasília Time UTC−03:00

Results

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics - Men's marathon Men's marathon Marathons at the Olympics

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

Men's marathons Men's events at the 2016 Summer Olympics