The men's marathon at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia was held on Saturday December 1, 1956. There were 46 participants from 23 nations, with 13 runners not completing the race. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by 1 minute 32 seconds by Alain Mimoun of France, the nation's first Olympic marathon victory since 1928 and third overall. Yugoslavia took its first Olympic marathon medal with Franjo Mihalić's silver. Finland returned to the podium in the event for the first time since 1932 (the end of a four-Games medal streak for the nation) as Veikko Karvonen took bronze.
Background
This was the 13th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning runners from the 1952 marathon included defending champion Emil Zátopek of Czechoslovakia and fifth-place finisher Veikko Karvonen of Finland. Zátopek's primary challenger was Alain Mimoun of France, who had won three silver medals in the 5000 metres and 10000 metres track events in 1948 and 1952—all behind Zátopek. Mimoun was making his marathon debut. Zátopek, on the other hand, was still recovering from hernia surgery.
Burma, Ethiopia, Iran, Kenya, and New Zealand each made their first appearance in Olympic marathons; Germany appeared for the first time as the "United Team of Germany". The United States made its 13th 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 marathon distance of 26 miles, 385 yards) was run over an out-and-back course, starting and finishing at the Olympic Stadium. Its eastern turning point was at the site of the Oakleigh Motel — Victoria's first motel, under construction at the time of the event.
Records
These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1956 Summer Olympics.
No new world or Olympic bests were set during the competition.
Schedule
All times are Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10)
Date Time Round Saturday, 1 December 1956 15:15 Final
Results
Rank Athlete Nation Time Alain Mimoun 2:25:00 Franjo Mihalić 2:26:32 Veikko Karvonen 2:27:47 4 Lee Chang-Hoon 2:28:45 5 Yoshiaki Kawashima 2:29:19 6 Emil Zátopek 2:29:34 7 Ivan Filin 2:30:37 8 Evert Nyberg 2:31:12 9 Thomas Nilsson 2:33:33 10 Eino Oksanen 2:36:10 11 Arnold Vaide 2:36:21 12 Choi Chunk-Sik 2:36:53 13 Paavo Kotila 2:38:5914 Mercer Davies 2:39:4815 Harry Hicks 2:39:5516 Hideo Hamamura 2:40:5317 Albert Richards 2:41:3418 John Russell 2:41:4419 Lothar Beckert 2:42:1020 Nick Costes 2:42:2021 John J. Kelley 2:43:4022 Muhamad Havlidar Aslam 2:44:3323 Adolf Gruber 2:46:2024 Aurèle Vandendriessche 2:47:1825 Keith Ollerenshaw 2:48:1226 Myitung Naw 2:49:3227 Pavel Kantorek 2:52:0528 Kurt Hartung 2:52:1429 Bashay Feleke 2:53:3730 Abdul Rashid 2:57:4731 Kanuti Sum 2:58:4232 Gebre Birkay 2:58:4933 Kurao Hiroshima 3:04:17 — Giuseppe Lavelli Jan Barnard Ron Clark Eduardo Fontecilla Ali Baghbanbashi Boris Grishayev Les Perry Juan Silva Albert Ivanov Klaus Porbadnik Fred Norris Im Hwa-dong Dean Thackwray — Demissie Gamatcho Rudy Méndez
References
External links Official Report Results