Jump to content

Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Men's marathon
at the Games of the XI Olympiad
The Dong-a Ilbo ran this picture of Sohn at the victory ceremony with the Japanese rising sun on his uniform obscured, leading to repercussions from the Japanese government
VenueStart and finish at Olympiastadion
DatesAugust 9
Competitors56 from 27 nations
Winning time2:29:19.2
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Kitei Son
 Japan
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Ernest Harper
 Great Britain
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Shōryū Nan
 Japan
← 1932
1948 →

The men's marathon event at the 1936 Summer Olympic Games took place August 9. Fifty-six athletes from 27 nations competed.[1] 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, a Korean athlete competing for Japan as the country was under Japanese occupation; Sohn refused to acknowledge the Japanese anthem at the victory ceremony.[2] 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.[1] 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

[edit]

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 Sohn Kee-chung and Nam Sung-yong 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.[2] 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.[1]

Background

[edit]

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 of Denmark. Sohn Kee-chung 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.[1]

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

[edit]

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 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.[3]

This route differs from the present-day Berlin Marathon.

Records

[edit]

These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1936 Summer Olympics per the IAAF. The ARRS lists Sohn as having run 2:26:14 on 21 March 1935.[4]

World record  Kitei Son (JPN) 2:26:42 Tokyo, Japan 3 November 1935
Olympic record  Juan Carlos Zabala (ARG) 2:31:36 Los Angeles, United States 7 August 1932

Sohn Kee-chung set a new Olympic best with a time of 2:29:19.2.

Schedule

[edit]

The day was "dry and clear" and 22 °C (72 °F).[1]

Date Time Round
Sunday, 9 August 1936 15:00 Final

Results

[edit]
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Kitei Son  Japan 2:29:19.2 OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Ernest Harper  Great Britain 2:31:23.2
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Shōryū Nan  Japan 2:31:42.0
4 Erkki Tamila  Finland 2:32:45.0
5 Väinö Muinonen  Finland 2:33:46.0
6 Johannes Coleman  South Africa 2:36:17.0
7 Donald Robertson  Great Britain 2:37:06.2
8 Jackie Gibson  South Africa 2:38:04.0
9 Mauno Tarkiainen  Finland 2:39:33.0
10 Thore Enochsson  Sweden 2:43:12.0
11 Stylianos Kyriakides  Greece 2:43:20.0
12 Nouba Khaled  France 2:45:34.0
13 Henry Palmé  Sweden 2:46:08.4
14 Franz Tuschek  Austria 2:46:29.0
15 Jimmy Bartlett  Canada 2:48:21.4
16 Émile Duval  France 2:48:39.8
17 Manuel Dias  Portugal 2:49:00.0
18 Johnny Kelley  United States 2:49:32.4
19 Miloslav Luňák  Czechoslovakia 2:50:26.0
20 Felix Meskens  Belgium 2:51:19.0
21 Ján Takáč  Czechoslovakia 2:51:20.0
22 Rudolf Wöber  Austria 2:51:28.0
23 Ludovic Gall  Romania 2:55:02.0
24 Robert Nevens  Belgium 2:55:51.0
25 Anders Hartington Andersen  Denmark 2:56:31.0
26 Gabriel Mendoza  Peru 2:57:17.8
27 Tommy Lalande  South Africa 2:57:20.0
28 Artūrs Motmillers  Latvia 2:58:02.0
29 Eduard Braesecke  Germany 2:59:33.4
30 Percy Wyer  Canada 3:00:11.0
31 Fernand Le Heurteur  France 3:01:11.0
32 Wilhelm Rothmayer  Austria 3:02:32.0
33 Bronisław Gancarz  Poland 3:03:11.0
34 Max Beer  Switzerland 3:06:26.0
35 Guillermo Suárez  Peru 3:08:18.0
36 Boris Kharalampiev  Bulgaria 3:08:53.8
37 Arul Swami  India 3:10:44.0
38 Josef Šulc  Czechoslovakia 3:11:47.4
39 Franz Eha  Switzerland 3:18:17.0
40 Wang Zhenglin  Republic of China 3:25:36.4
41 Stane Šporn  Yugoslavia 3:30:47.0
42 José Farías  Peru 3:33:24.0
Juan Acosta  Chile DNF
Franz Barsicke  Germany DNF
Tarzan Brown  United States DNF
Giannino Bulzone  Italy DNF
Paul de Bruyn  Germany DNF
Kazimierz Fiałka  Poland DNF
Aurelio Genghini  Italy DNF
Billy McMahon  United States DNF
Jaime Mendes  Portugal DNF
Bert Norris  Great Britain DNF
Luis Oliva  Argentina DNF
Tamao Shiwaku  Japan DNF
Harold Webster  Canada DNF
Juan Carlos Zabala  Argentina DNF
Vincent Callard  Canada DNS
Jean Chapelle  Belgium DNS
Ernst Hirt  Switzerland DNS
Jorge Perry  Colombia DNS

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e "Marathon, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Athletics at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games: Men's Marathon". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  3. ^ Offizieller Bericht S. 644 (engl.)
  4. ^ "World Marathon Rankings for 1935". ARRS. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
[edit]