The men's marathon at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

Seoul, South Korea Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 o ...

was held on Sunday October 2, 1988. The race started at 14:30h local time. A total of 98 athletes completed the race, with Polin Belisle from

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

finishing in last position in 3'14:02. There were 118 competitors from 60 countries. Twenty 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

Gelindo Bordin Gelindo Bordin (born 2 April 1959) is an Italian former athlete, winner of the marathon race at the 1988 Summer Olympics. He is the first Italian to have won an Olympic gold in the marathon and the only male to win both the Boston Marathon and th ...

of Italy, the nation's first victory in the Olympic men's marathon and first medal in the event since 1924. Kenya (

Douglas Wakiihuri Douglas Wakiihuri (born September 26, 1963, in Mombasa) is a former Kenyan long-distance runner, who won the gold medal in the marathon at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics in Rome. No other male Kenyan runner had ever won the marathon ...

's silver) and Djibouti (

Hussein Ahmed Salah Hussein Ahmed Salah ( ar, حسين أحمد صلاح, so, Xuseen Axmed Saalax) is a Djiboutian former long-distance runner, best known for winning a bronze medal in the marathon at the 1988 Summer Olympics. He also won silver medals in this eve ...

's bronze) each won their first Olympic men's marathon medal.

Background

This was the 21st appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning runners from the 1984 marathon included silver medalist

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, ...

of Ireland, bronze medalist

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 ...

of Great Britain, fifth-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, and sixth-place finisher

Juma Ikangaa Juma Ikangaa (born 19 July 1957 in Dodoma) is a marathon runner from Tanzania, who won the 1989 New York City Marathon in a course-record time of 2:08:01. Ikangaa was also a sentimental favorite in Boston Marathon after finishing second three ye ...

of Tanzania. The favorites included de Castella,

of Italy, and rising star

of Djibouti.

of Kenya had won the 1987 world championship over Ahmed Salah and Bordin. American Samoa, Angola, Belize, (the People's Republic of) China, Fiji, Guam, Guinea, the Maldives, Niger, Rwanda, and the Solomon Islands each made their first appearance in Olympic men's marathons. The United States made its 20th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games. Gary Fanelli of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

moved to

Tafuna, American Samoa Tafuna ( sm, Tāfuna) is a village on the east coast of Tutuila Island, American Samoa. It is home to Pago Pago International Airport (Tafuna Airport). It is one mile south of Nu'uuli, American Samoa. The Ottoville district is a part of Tafuna. Ne ...

six months prior to the

in Seoul in order to coach and attain his Olympic eligibility for America Samoa. Fanelli's time of 2:25:35, good for 51st place, is an American Samoan national record.

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 starting and finishing at the Olympic Stadium, running along the Han River.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1988 Summer Olympics. No new world or Olympic bests were set during the competition.

Schedule

All times are Korea Standard Time adjusted for daylight savings (

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

)

Results

References

External links

*
Official Report
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics At The 1988 Summer Olympics - Men's Marathon M Marathons at the Olympics 1988 marathons Men's marathons Men's events at the 1988 Summer Olympics