Athletics at the 1900 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon

Men's marathon at the Games of the II Olympiad
240px The early stages of the race
Venue	Paris
Date	July 19
Competitors	13 from 5 nations
Medalists
Michel Théato  France Émile Champion  France Ernst Fast  Sweden

Athletics at the 1900 Summer Olympics
Track events
60 m		men
100 m		men
200 m		men
400 m		men
800 m		men
1500 m		men
110 m hurdles		men
200 m hurdles		men
400 m hurdles		men
2500 m steeplechase		men
4000 m steeplechase		men
5000 m team race		men
Road events
Marathon	men
Field events
Long jump	men
Triple jump	men
High jump	men
Pole vault	men
Standing long jump	men
Standing triple jump	men
Standing high jump	men
Shot put	men
Discus throw	men
Hammer throw	men

The men's marathon was a track & field athletics event at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. It was held on July 19, 1900. 13 athletes from five nations competed in the marathon, which used a distance of 40.26 kilometres.

The winner, Michel Théato, was originally assumed to be French, before it was discovered in the late 20th century that his nationality was Luxembourgish. The International Olympic Committee still credits this medal for France, however.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in hours) prior to the 1900 Summer Olympics.

World Record		none
Olympic Record	2'58:50(*)	Spiridon Louis	Athens (GRE)	April 10, 1896 (NS)

(*) Distance was 40 kilometres

Results

Place	Athlete	Time
1	Michel Théato (FRA)	2:59:45
2	Émile Champion (FRA)	3:04:17
3	Ernst Fast (SWE)	3:37:14
4	Eugène Besse (FRA)	4:00:43
5	Arthur Newton (USA)	4:04:12
6-7	Dick Grant (USA)	Unknown
	22x20px Ronald J. MacDonald (CAN)	Unknown
—	Auguste Marchais (FRA)	DNF
	Johan Nyström (SWE)	DNF
	E. Ion Pool (GBR)	DNF
	Frederick Randall (GBR)	DNF
	William Saward (GBR)	DNF
	Georges Touquet-Daunis (FRA)	DNF

The marathon race, which began at 2:30 p.m. on a day with temperatures reaching nearly 40°C (102°F ), wound through the streets of Paris. Thirteen runners started, though only twelve finished the four laps around the track that preceded the road running. Touquet-Daunis led until he withdrew from the competition, at which point Fast took over. Fast had tired himself trying to keep pace with the Frenchman, however, and was passed by Théato and Champion before long. Seven runners finished the race.

Sources

Specific

General

• International Olympic Committee results database
• De Wael, Herman. Herman's Full Olympians: "Athletics 1900". Accessed 18 March 2006. Available electronically at [1].