Cross country running at the
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 ...
was held at the
multi-sport event for men only from 1912 to 1924. During its brief tenure as an Olympic event, it featured on the
Olympic athletics programme
Athletics has been contested at every Summer Olympics since the birth of the modern Olympic movement at the 1896 Summer Olympics. The athletics program traces its earliest roots to events used in the ancient Greek Olympics. The modern program in ...
. Medals were awarded on an individual race basis as well as a national team points basis.
Traditionally a
winter sport, the scheduling of cross country within a summer event caused organisational issues. The sport was dropped after 1924 Olympics, when most of the runners dropped out due to
extreme heat and pollution from a nearby power station.
Over its three appearances at the Olympics, Finnish runners dominated the event. Tying in with the emergence of the
Flying Finns,
Hannes Kolehmainen won the inaugural event then
Paavo Nurmi won the following two editions, winning gold medals both individually and in the team race.
Haile Gebrselassie,
Kenenisa Bekele and
Paul Tergat, all highly successful African long-distance runners, jointly issued an open letter in 2008 to the
International Olympic Committee (IOC) president
Jacques Rogge, urging him to consider the re-instatement of cross country as an
Olympic sport. The
International Association of Athletics Federations and
athletics media have supported the idea of including the sport at the
Winter Olympic Games. The IOC defines winter sports as those requiring snow or ice, presenting a possible block on its inclusion. Although the sport does not require such conditions, major cross country events have been held on snow on numerous occasions.
[Mackay, Duncan (2013-12-09)]
Olympic target for cross country still the aim say IAAF after top-level summit led by Coe
Inside the Games. Retrieved on 2014-03-15.
Medal summary
Individual
Multiple medalists
Medals by country
Team
Multiple medalists
Medals by country
Notes
*The
Finnish team at the 1912 Olympics were officially part of the
Russian Empire as part of the autonomous
Grand Duchy of Finland, but the IOC classifies their results as belonging to Finland, not Russia, for historical reasons.
References
;Participation and athlete data
Athletics Men's Cross-Country, Individual Medalists Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-03-15.
Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-03-15.
;Specific
External links
IAAF cross country homepageOfficial Olympics website
{{History of Olympic athletics events
Olympics
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
Cross country running
Athletics team events