The men's marathon at the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 P ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, Canada, was held on Saturday July 31, 1976. The race started at 17:30 local time. There were 67 competitors from 36 countries. Seven of them did not finish. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by

Waldemar Cierpinski Waldemar Cierpinski (born 3 August 1950) is a former East German athlete and two time Olympic Champion in the marathon. He lives in Halle an der Saale. Career He was born to Polish parents who had moved to Germany in 1945, in Neug ...

of East Germany, the first Olympic marathon medal by any German runner.

Frank Shorter Frank Charles Shorter (born October 31, 1947) is an American former long-distance runner who won the gold medal in the marathon at the 1972 Summer Olympics and the silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics. His Olympic success, along with the ac ...

of the United States and

Karel Lismont Karel Lismont (; born 8 March 1949) is a former Belgian long-distance runner. He competed at the 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1984 Olympics in the marathon and 10,000 m events. He won two marathon medals: a silver in 1972 and a bronze in 1976, finishing ...

of Belgium became the third and fourth men to win a second medal in the event, each one place behind their 1972 results. Ethiopia's four-Games marathon medal streak ended, as the nation boycotted the Games.

Background

This was the 18th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning runners from the 1972 marathon included defending champion

of the United States, silver medalist

of Belgium, and eighth-place finisher Jack Foster of New Zealand. Shorter had also won four consecutive

Fukuoka Marathon The is an IAAF Gold Label international men's marathon race held in Fukuoka, Japan. It was previously known as the Fukuoka International Open Marathon Championship between 1947 and 2021, when it was announced the race would be discontinued on its ...

s from 1971 through 1974 and was favored in this race. Significant contenders included his countryman Bill Rodgers (1975 Boston Marathon winner),

Jerome Drayton Jerome Drayton (born January 10, 1945 in Kolbermoor, Bavaria, Germany) is a former long-distance runner who competed internationally for Canada. He was born as Peter Buniak in Germany, and came to Canada in the mid-1950s when his mother moved the ...

of Canada (1975 Fukuoka winner), and Akio Usami (9th in 1968 and 12th in 1972) and

Shigeru So (born 9 January 1953 in Usuki, Ōita) is a retired long-distance runner from Japan, who represented his native country at two Summer Olympics: 1976 and 1984. He won the 1985 edition of the Tokyo Marathon. His twin brother Takeshi So is also a re ...

of Japan. Lasse Virén had just finished defending the double in the 5000 metres and 10000 metres; having never run a marathon before, he entered this event hoping to match

Emil Zátopek Emil Zátopek (; 19 September 1922 – 21 November 2000) was a Czech long-distance runner best known for winning three gold medals at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He won gold in the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres runs, but his final me ...

's 1952 triple. Bermuda, Honduras, Papua New Guinea, and Paraguay each made their first appearance in Olympic marathons. The United States made its 18th 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 route.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1976 Summer Olympics.

set a new Olympic best with 2:09:55.0.

Schedule

It rained throughout the race. All times are

Eastern Daylight Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small p ...

( UTC-4)

Results

References

External links

*
Official Report
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics At The 1976 Summer Olympics - Men's Marathon M 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 1976 Summer Olympics