Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon

(Redirected from Abdul Lahij Ahmed)

The men's marathon at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, was held on Sunday August 12, 1984. The race started at 5:00 pm local time. There were 107 competitors from 59 countries. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. A total number of 78 athletes completed the race.

Official Video Highlights
Men's marathon
at the Games of the XXIII Olympiad
Tickets for Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics
VenueLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
DateAugust 12
Competitors107 from 59 nations
Winning time2:09:21 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Carlos Lopes
 Portugal
2nd place, silver medalist(s) John Treacy
 Ireland
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Charlie Spedding
 Great Britain
← 1980
1988 →

The race was won by Carlos Lopes of Portugal, giving Portugal its first medal in the men's marathon, as well as its first ever gold medal at the Olympics.[1] His time of 2:09:21 was the Olympic record for the next 24 years.[2] Ireland also won its first men's marathon medal, with John Treacy's silver. Great Britain returned to the podium for the first time since 1964 with Charlie Spedding taking bronze.

Background

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This was the 20th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Returning runners from the 1980 marathon included silver medalist Gerard Nijboer of the Netherlands, sixth-place finisher Rodolfo Gómez of Mexico, ninth-place finisher (and 1972 silver and 1976 bronze medalist) Karel Lismont of Belgium, and tenth-place finisher Robert de Castella of Australia. The two-time defending champion, Waldemar Cierpinski of East Germany, was prevented from trying for a third gold by the Eastern Bloc boycott.

The two favorites[citation needed] were de Castella (1981 Fukuoka winner, in world record time, and 1983 World Championships winner) and Toshihiko Seko of Japan (1981 Boston winner and 1978–1980 and 1983 Fukuoka winner).[3] Alberto Salazar of the United States had a strong 1980 to 1982 (1980–1982 New York winner and 1982 Boston winner),[4] but had less good results in 1983, and had finished second at the USA trials.[3]

Botswana, the Central African Republic, Cyprus, Djibouti, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, the Virgin Islands, and Zaire each made their first appearance in Olympic men's marathons; the Republic of China made its first appearance as Chinese Taipei. The United States made its 19th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

Competition format and course

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As all Olympic marathons, the competition was a single race. The marathon distance of 26 miles, 385 yards was run over a point-to-point route starting at Santa Monica College and ending at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.[4]

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1984 Summer Olympics.

World record   Robert de Castella (AUS) 2:08:18 Fukuoka, Japan 6 December 1981
Olympic record   Waldemar Cierpinski (GDR) 2:09:55.0 Montreal, Canada 31 July 1976

Carlos Lopes set a new Olympic record at 2:09:21.

Schedule

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All times are Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)

Date Time Round
Sunday, 12 August 1984 17:15 Final

Results

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
  Carlos Lopes   Portugal 2:09:21 OR
  John Treacy   Ireland 2:09:56
  Charlie Spedding   Great Britain 2:09:58
4 Takeshi So   Japan 2:10:55
5 Robert de Castella   Australia 2:11:09
6 Juma Ikangaa   Tanzania 2:11:10
7 Joseph Nzau   Kenya 2:11:28
8 Djama Robleh   Djibouti 2:11:39
9 Jerry Kiernan   Ireland 2:12:20
10 Rod Dixon   New Zealand 2:12:57
11 Pete Pfitzinger   United States 2:13:53
12 Hugh Jones   Great Britain 2:13:57
13 Jorge González   Puerto Rico 2:14:00
14 Toshihiko Seko   Japan 2:14:13
15 Alberto Salazar   United States 2:14:19
16 Mehmet Terzi   Turkey 2:14:20
17 Shigeru So   Japan 2:14:38
18 Ralf Salzmann   West Germany 2:15:29
19 Henrik Jørgensen   Denmark 2:15:55
20 Hussein Ahmed Salah   Djibouti 2:15:59
21 Agapius Masong   Tanzania 2:16:25
22 Gidamis Shahanga   Tanzania 2:16:27
23 Eloi Schleder   Brazil 2:16:35
24 Karel Lismont   Belgium 2:17:07
25 Allan Zachariasen   Denmark 2:17:10
26 Michail Koussis   Greece 2:17:38
27 Pertti Tiainen   Finland 2:17:43
28 Alain Lazare   France 2:17:52
29 Vincent Ruguga   Uganda 2:17:54
30 Armand Parmentier   Belgium 2:18:10
31 César Mercado   Puerto Rico 2:19:09
32 Omar Abdillahi Charmarke   Djibouti 2:19:11
33 Øyvind Dahl   Norway 2:19:28
34 Derek Froude   New Zealand 2:19:44
35 Giovanni d'Aleo   Italy 2:20:12
36 Jesús Herrera   Mexico 2:20:33
37 Lee Hong-yeol   South Korea 2:20:56
38 Juan Camacho   Bolivia 2:21:04
39 Cor Vriend   Netherlands 2:21:08
40 Frans Ntaole   Lesotho 2:21:09
41 Johan Geirnaert   Belgium 2:21:35
42 Jacques Boxberger   France 2:22:00
43 Marco Marchei   Italy 2:22:38
44 Art Boileau   Canada 2:22:43
45 Samuel Hlawe   Swaziland 2:22:45
46 Baikuntha Manandhar   Nepal 2:22:52
47 Ahmed Mohamed Ismail   Somalia 2:23:27
48 Chae Hong-nak   South Korea 2:23:33
49 Joseph Otieno   Kenya 2:24:13
50 Bruno Lafranchi   Switzerland 2:24:38
51 Dick Hooper   Ireland 2:24:41
52 Derick Adamson   Jamaica 2:25:02
53 Claudio Cabán   Puerto Rico 2:27:16
54 Marc Agosta   Luxembourg 2:27:41
55 Wilson Theleso   Botswana 2:29:20
56 Alejandro Silva   Chile 2:29:53
57 Chen Chang-ming   Chinese Taipei 2:29:53
58 Kim Won-sik   South Korea 2:30:57
59 Rubén Aguiar   Argentina 2:31:18
60 Sabag Shemtov   Israel 2:31:34
61 Vincent Rakabaele   Lesotho 2:32:15
62 Marios Kassianidis   Cyprus 2:32:51
63 Arjun Pandit   Nepal 2:32:53
64 Ismael Mahmoud Ghassab   Jordan 2:33:30
65 Alain Bordeleau   Canada 2:34:27
66 Tau John Tokwepota   Papua New Guinea 2:36:36
67 Patric Nyambariro-Nhauro   Zimbabwe 2:37:18
68 Kimurgor Ngeny   Kenya 2:37:19
69 Amiri Yadav   Nepal 2:38:10
70 Adolphe Ambowode   Central African Republic 2:41:26
71 Carlos Ávila   Honduras 2:42:03
72 Jules Randrianarivelo   Madagascar 2:43:05
73 Abdul Lahij Ahmed   Somalia 2:44:39 The Los Angeles Times described Ahmed's Olympic finish as follows: "In one dramatic moment, Somalian runner Abdulahij Ahmed entered the stadium, obviously in pain. The stadium crowd rose to its feet, cheering wildly to encourage him to finish. He did."[5]
74 George Mambosasa   Malawi 2:46:14
75 Marlon Williams   Virgin Islands 2:46:50
76 Johnson Mbangiwa   Botswana 2:48:12
77 Leonardo Illut   Philippines 2:49:39
78 Dieudonné LaMothe   Haiti 2:52:18
Awadh Al-Sameer   Oman DNF
Ahmet Altun   Turkey DNF
Dave Edge   Canada DNF
Matthews Kambale   Malawi DNF
Ronald Lanzoni   Costa Rica DNF
Bigboy Matlapeng   Botswana DNF
Tommy Persson   Sweden DNF
Kjell-Erik Ståhl   Sweden DNF
Domingo Tibaduiza   Colombia DNF
Rodolfo Gómez   Mexico DNF
Gerard Nijboer   Netherlands DNF
Gerhard Hartmann   Austria DNF
Omar Aguilar   Chile DNF
Filippos Filippou   Cyprus DNF
Juan Carlos Traspaderne   Spain DNF
Santiago de la Parte   Spain DNF
Geoff Smith   Great Britain DNF
Nimley Twegbe   Liberia DNF
Miguel Angel Cruz   Mexico DNF
Cor Lambregts   Netherlands DNF
Stig Roar Husby   Norway DNF
Cidálio Caetano   Portugal DNF
Delfim Moreira   Portugal DNF
Ibrahim Al-Taher   Qatar DNF
Mehmet Yurdadön   Turkey DNF
Wilson Achia   Uganda DNF
John Tuttle   United States DNF
Masini Situ-Kumbanga   Zaire DNF
Tommy Lazarus   Zimbabwe DNF
Martti Vainio   Finland DNS

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Four medals for Portugal in Tokyo 2021". The Portugal News. 6 August 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Athletics at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games: Men's Marathon". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  3. ^ a b 1984 - Looking back on one of the best U.S. Olympic marathon trials ever, Runner's World, January 10, 2012.
  4. ^ a b "Marathon, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  5. ^ Mark A. Stein (August 13, 1984). "High-Tech Glitter Closes L.A. Games: Laser-Illuminated Ceremony Follows Finish of Marathon Before 92,655". Los Angeles Times – via Newspapers.com.
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