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 ...

event at the

1936 Summer Olympic Games The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

took place August 9. Fifty-six athletes from 27 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The race was won by

Sohn Kee-chung Sohn Kee-chung (; ; August 29, 1912 – November 15, 2002) was a Korean Olympic athlete and long-distance runner. He became the first Korean to win a medal at the Olympic Games, winning gold in the Marathon (sport), marathon at the Berlin Oly ...

, a Korean athlete competing for Japan as the country was under Japanese occupation; Sohn refused to acknowledge the Japanese anthem at the victory ceremony. Sohn was the first Korean athlete to win an Olympic gold medal, though the medal remains credited as Japan's first victory in the Olympic marathon. Finland (barely) missed the marathon podium for the first time since World War I, with its top two runners placing 4th and 5th.

Korean athletes

During the time of the competition, Korea was a colony of Japan, therefore Korean sportsmen competed as members of Japanese team and were using their Japanese names. The Korean names of Son Kitei and Nan Shōryū are

and

Nam Sung-yong Nam Sung-yong (November 23, 1912 – February 20, 2001) was a Korean Olympian who won a bronze medal in the Marathon (sport), marathon at the 1936 Summer Olympics, completing the run in 2 hours, 31 minutes, and 42 seconds. He was born in Sunc ...

respectively. After Sohn's victory, he bowed his head during the Japanese anthem at his medal ceremony and remarked that he was ashamed to compete for Japan, an occupying power, rather than an independent Korea. A Korean newspaper, The Dong-a Ilbo, obscured the Japanese rising sun symbol on Sohn's uniform in a photograph of the victory ceremony, resulting in the Japanese government suspending the newspaper and jailing some of its employees.

Background

This was the tenth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning runners from 1932 included the defending champion, Juan Carlos Zabala of Argentina, and tenth-place finisher

Anders Hartington Andersen Anders Hartington Andersen (1 February 1907 – 10 January 1996) was a Danish long-distance runner. He competed in the marathon at the 1932 Summer Olympics and the 1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games ...

of Denmark.

had broken the world record in 1935, won 9 of the 12 marathons he had run since 1933, and finished in the top three in the other 3. Bulgaria, the Republic of China, Peru, Poland, and Switzerland each made their first appearance in Olympic marathons. The United States made its tenth 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 now-standard marathon distance of 26 miles, 385 yards was run over a course that started in the Olympic Stadium. After going around the stadium, the starting field left the stadium through the Marathon Gate. The runners crossed the Maifeld and then turned right into the Angerburger Avenue. Shortly thereafter, it was then left into Glockenturmstraße and the first checkpoint after 4 km on the Havelchaussee. They went on the banks of the Havel along the Grunewald to the left side. The second checkpoint was 6 kilometers on Rupenhorn, at kilometer 8 of the third control point followed on Schildhorn. The Grunewaldturm was reached after 10 km, at the level of the island Lindwerder sending the runners southeast. At the end of Havelchaussee runners then turned left on the long, straight

AVUS The ('Automobile traffic and training road'), known as AVUS (), is a public road in Berlin, Germany. Opened in 1921, it was also used as a motor racing circuit until 1998. Today, the AVUS forms the northern part of the Bundesautobahn 115. C ...

. The course went on the race track to the Nordschleife, there returned to the rotor field and the previous route ran back to the Olympic Stadium. The athletes came through the Marathon Gate back to the stadium and then ran for about 150 meters to the finish line. This route differs from the present-day

Berlin Marathon The Berlin Marathon (, ) is a marathon event held annually on the streets of Berlin, Germany on the last weekend of September. Held annually since 1974, the event includes multiple races over the marathon distance of , including elite level road r ...

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1936 Summer Olympics per the

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

. The ARRS lists Sohn as having run 2:26:14 on 21 March 1935.

set a new Olympic best with a time of 2:29:19.2.

Schedule

The day was "dry and clear" and .

Results

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics - Men's marathon Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics Marathons at the Olympics Men's marathons Men's events at the 1936 Summer Olympics