The men's

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), 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 ...

at the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the IX Olympiad (), was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from 28 July to 12 August 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam had previously bid for ...

was held in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, Netherlands on 5 August 1928. The race started at 15:14 local time. A total number of 57 athletes completed the race, with Willem van der Steen from the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

finishing in last position in 3:29:21. There were 69 competitors from 23 countries. Twelve of them did not finish. The maximum number of athletes per nation was 6.Official Report, p. 374. The event was won by Boughera El Ouafi of France, the nation's first Olympic marathon victory since 1900 (and second overall). Manuel Plaza's silver made him the first Olympic medalist from Chile, while Martti Marttelin's bronze put Finland on the podium in the event for the third straight Games.

Background

This was the eighth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning runners from 1924 included silver medalist Romeo Bertini of Italy, bronze medalist Clarence DeMar of the United States, fifth-place finisher Sam Ferris of Great Britain, sixth-place finisher Manuel Plaza of Chile, seventh-place finisher Boughera El Ouafi of France, and eighth-place finisher Gustav Kinn of Sweden. The field "was very open with no strict favorite." Latvia, Mexico, Romania, and Yugoslavia each made their first appearance in Olympic marathons. The United States made its eighth appearance, the only nation to have competed in each Olympic marathon to that point.

Competition format

As all Olympic marathons, the competition was a single race. The now-standard marathon distance of 26 miles, 385 yards was run over a course that "started and ended at the Olympic Stadium, but was not strictly out-and-back, as there were small loops near the halfway point, and on the return to the Stadium."

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows. ''(*)'' Course was list at 42.75 kilometres.

Schedule

Results

References

External links

Official Report
{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 1928 Summer Olympics - Men's marathon M Marathons at the Olympics Marathons in the Netherlands Men's events at the 1928 Summer Olympics Men's marathons