Africa has woken and become a dominant force in the Olympic marathon and in distance running in general. With individual African nations looking to improve their medals haul, the Paris Olympics presents a prime opportunity for the continent’s marathoners, especially women, to cement their legacy further.
Stephen Granger, bird story agency
The Olympic marathon is arguably the ultimate symbol of Olympism as envisioned by the modern Olympic founder, Pierre de Coubertin, an the 2024 Olympics marathon, which will see runners battle in a 42.195 km race between Paris and Versailles, will provide a spectacular finale for the XXXIII Olympiad.
The present marathon enjoys a rich history and originates in the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896. At the time, De Coubertin described the Olympic Spirit as “a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced whole the qualities of body, will and mind…”
128 years after Greek water carrier Spyridon Louis won the (male-only) first Olympic marathon in Athens, the world’s leading distance male and female athletes will be plumbing the depths of the body, will, and mind to succeed in the most grueling of all Olympic competitions.
The route between the town of Marathon and the citadel in Athens was based on the estimated distance run by the Greek messenger Pheidippides in 490 BC at the time of a famous victory of the Atheniens over the Persians. He is said to have dropped dead after running a route of approximately 40km.
The current distance of 42,195 km equals the distance run at the 1908 Olympics in London, the longer distance due to the decision to start the race at Windsor Castle and finish opposite the Royal Box in the Olympic Stadium, in deference to the Crown.
In 1921, the IAAF opted to use the London route as the ‘standard marathon’ and the distance has been used ever since.
The early history of the Olympic Marathon is littered with colorful stories. New Yorker Fred Lorz enjoyed a lift from his manager for more than half the distance at St Louis in 2004 before breaking the tape to claim the marathon win. He was later disqualified.
The actual winner, American Thomas Hicks, would also have been disqualified in subsequent years. He was given strychnine and brandy ‘medication’ by his helpers during the race and collapsed shortly before the finish. His helpers carried him across the line, and he was awarded the gold medal!
Four years later, the rules had tightened back in Athens, and Italian Dorando Piertri was not afforded the same generosity. He led the field into the stadium but collapsed before the finish. When his helpers supported him across the line, he was disqualified, leaving American Johnny Hayes to claim gold after clocking 2:55:18 for the 40km distance.
Charles Hefferon, competing for South Africa under the Union Jack, won Africa’s first Olympic Marathon medal in 1908, taking the silver behind Hayes, with another South African, Ken McArthur, winning marathon gold ahead of his teammate, Chris Gitsham, four years later in Stockholm in an Olympic record time of 2:34:55.
Two ‘Flying Finns’ took gold in 1920 (Hannes Kolehmainen) and 1924 (Albin Stenroos) before another African won gold in Amsterdam in 1928. This time it was Algerian Boughera el Ouafi, who won in 2:32:57. However, his medal was credited to France as Boughera was considered French.
Japanese athlete Kee-Chung Sohn took gold in the final pre-war Olympics in Berlin in a new record of 2:29:20.
Emil Zatopek, one of the best distance runners ever, won gold for Czechoslovakia in 1952 in Helsinki after Argentinian Delfo Cabrera had won in London in 1948, while France won their second Olympic Marathon gold when Alain Mimoun broke the tape in Melbourne in 1956.
By the 1960’s, the sleeping marathon giant in Africa had begun to stir as the continent cast off its colonial shackles. Ethiopian marathon dominance at the following three Summer Olympics, when the great Abebe Bikila won in Rome (1960) and Tokyo (1964) and his compatriot, Mamo Wolde, in Mexico City in 1968, was merely a foretaste of what was to come.
The great Bikila set an Olympic Record 2:12:11 in Tokyo twelve years ago.
East German athlete Waldemar Cierpinski’s name survived doping controversies. He was credited with marathon gold in Montreal (1976) and Moscow (1980) before Portuguese athlete Carlos Lopes (an Olympic record time of 2:09:21), Italy’s Gelindo Bordin, and Hwang Young-cho of Korea temporarily halted Africa’s march to marathon dominance in Los Angeles, Seoul, and Barcelona.
When Africa returned to the top of the marathon podium in Atlanta in 1996, an athlete from the south of the continent took gold, with South African Josia Thugwane winning an exciting race. Thugwane had been upgraded from reserve to competitor just days before the race when a teammate withdrew through injury.
The fourth and last Ethiopian to win the Olympic Marathon was Gezahegne Abera, who won the millennial marathon in Sydney in 2000 in 2:10:11 before Italian Stefano Baldini denied Africa for the last time in Athens in 2004.
Lopes’ record had stood for 24 years but was smashed in Beijing. 23-year-old Kenyan Samuel Wanjiru raced the Olympic Marathon like no one had before or since, going out hard on his own. His ‘suicidal’ tactics paid off, and he was rewarded with gold in 2:06:32.
Tragically, Wanjiru died just one year after his Olympic success in Beijing in a time that still stands as an Olympic Record.
Uganda’s Stephen Kiprotich edged out Kenyans Abel Kirui and Wilson Kipsang in London in 2012 before the great man Eliud Kipchoge enhanced his reputation as the world’s greatest-ever marathoner by winning gold in Rio in 2016 and Sapporo / Tokyo in 2021.
This year, the Games will especially celebrate the women marathoners, just forty years after they were first permitted to compete. Only ten champions, two each from Ethiopia, Kenya, and Japan, have stood on top of the marathon podium before this year’s event at the games’ climax.
Kenya leads the women’s marathon medal count, with at least seven medals in ten Summer Games to their credit, two coming from defending champion Peres Jepchirchir and her teammate Brigid Kosgei, who took gold and silver in Japan.
Portuguese athlete Rosa Mota, Russian Valentina Yegorova, and Ethiopian great Fatuma Roba followed in Joan Benoit’s footsteps in Seoul, Barcelona, and Atlanta. Still, Benoit’s 2:24:52 held for 16 years until Japan’s Naoko Takahashi won in Sydney in 2000 in 2:23:14.
Takahashi’s compatriot Mizuki Noguchi won in Athens and Romanian Constantina Tomescu in Beijing, edging out Kenya’s Catherine Ndereba, who took silver on both occasions.
Africa tightened its Olympic Marathon grip in London in 2012, with Ethiopia’s Tiki Gelena taking gold in an Olympic record of 2:23:07 ahead of Kenya’s Priscah Jeptoo.
Kenya finally achieved gold at the women’s Olympic Marathon in Rio, with Jemima Sumgong winning in harsh conditions at 2:24:04 before Jepchirchir and Kosgei reigned supreme in Sapporo, Japan, in 2021.
bird story agency
