The men's marathon at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, was held on Sunday August 12, 1984. The race started at 5:00 pm local time. There were 107 competitors from 59 countries. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. A total number of 78 athletes completed the race. The race was won by

Carlos Lopes Carlos Alberto de Sousa Lopes, GCIH (, born 18 February 1947) is a Portuguese former long-distance runner. He won the marathon at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, becoming Portugal's first Olympic gold medalist and setting an Olym ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

, giving Portugal its first ever Olympics gold medal, and Portugal's first medal in the men's marathon. His time of 2:09:21 was the Olympic record for the next 24 years. Ireland also won its first men's marathon medal, with

John Treacy John Treacy (born 4 June 1957 in Villierstown, County Waterford) is an Irish Olympian and former athlete, now a sporting administrator. Athletic career Treacy attended St Anne's Post-Primary School in Cappoquin, County Waterford, Ireland, ...

's silver. Great Britain returned to the podium for the first time since 1964 with

Charlie Spedding Charles Spedding (born 19 May 1952 in Bishop Auckland, County Durham) is an English former long-distance runner. Athletics career Spedding was fourth in the 10,000 metres representing England, at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Queensl ...

taking bronze.

Background

This was the 20th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning runners from the 1980 marathon included silver medalist

Gerard Nijboer Gerhardus Marinus Maria Nijboer (born 18 August 1955) is a former Dutch long-distance runner. Nijboer competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1980 (Moscow, Soviet Union), when he won the silver medal in the marathon. He bec ...

of the Netherlands, sixth-place finisher

Rodolfo Gómez Rodolfo Gómez Orozco (born 30 October 1950 in Delicias, Chihuahua) is a Mexican retired long-distance runner, who was one of the leading runners represented from Mexico in the 1970s and 1980s. He won the Tokyo Marathon (1981), the ...

of Mexico, ninth-place finisher (and 1972 silver and 1976 bronze medalist)

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, and tenth-place finisher

Robert de Castella Francois Robert "Rob" de Castella (born 27 February 1957) is an Australian former world champion marathon runner. De Castella is widely known as "Deek" or "Deeks" to the Australian public, and "Tree" to his competitors due to his thick legs an ...

of Australia. The two-time defending champion,

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, was prevented from trying for a third gold by the Eastern Bloc boycott. The two favorites were de Castella (1981 Fukuoka winner, in world record time, and 1983 World Championships winner) and

Toshihiko Seko is a Japanese former long-distance runner. He was a world-class marathon competitor in the 1980s. He represented his native country at the 1984 and the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Seko's notable marathon wins include Fukuoka Mar ...

of Japan (1981 Boston winner and 1978–1980 and 1983 Fukuoka winner).1984 - Looking back on one of the best U.S. Olympic marathon trials ever

Runner's World ''Runner's World'' is a globally circulated monthly magazine for runners of all skills sets, published by Hearst in Easton, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Before its acquisition by Hearst, it was founded and published by Rodale, Inc. in Em ...

, January 10, 2012.

Alberto Salazar Alberto Salazar (born August 7, 1958) is an American former track coach and long-distance runner. Born in Cuba, Salazar immigrated to the United States as a child with his family, living in Connecticut and then in Wayland, Massachusetts, where ...

of the United States had a strong 1980 to 1982 (1980–1982 New York winner and 1982 Boston winner), but had less good results in 1983, and had finished second at the USA trials. Botswana, the Central African Republic, Cyprus, Djibouti, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, the Virgin Islands, and Zaire each made their first appearance in Olympic men's marathons; the Republic of China made its first appearance as Chinese Taipei. The United States made its 19th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

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

Santa Monica College Santa Monica College (SMC) is a public, community college in Santa Monica, California. Founded as a junior college in 1929, SMC enrolls over 30,000 students in more than 90 fields of study. Although initially serving primarily pre-college high sc ...

and ending at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1984 Summer Olympics.

set a new Olympic record at 2:09:21.

Schedule

All times are

Pacific Daylight Time The Pacific Time Zone (PT) is a time zone encompassing parts of western Canada, the western United States, and western Mexico. Places in this zone observe standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC−08:00 ...

( UTC-7)

Results

References

External links

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Marathon Info
{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics At The 1984 Summer Olympics - Men's Marathon M Marathons at the Olympics Marathons in the United States 1984 marathons Men's marathons Men's events at the 1984 Summer Olympics