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Athletics at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games:

Men's Marathon

Athletics at the 1988 Summer Games: Previous Summer Games ▪ Next Summer Games

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Host City: Seoul, South Korea
Venue(s): Olympic Stadium, Seoul Sports Complex, Seoul
Date Started: October 2, 1988
Date Finished: October 2, 1988
Format: 42,195 metres (26 miles, 385 yards) out-and-back.

Gold: ITA Gelindo Bordin
Silver: KEN Douglas Wakiihuri
Bronze: DJI Ahmed Salah

Summary

By 1988, the great African distance runners were beginning to set their sights on the marathon distance. Between 1984 and 1988 Djibouti, which previously had no athletics history, developed several leading marathon talents, led by Ahmed Salah. Two non-Africans also impressed, with Australia's Rob de Castella winning Boston in 1986 in 2-07:51, and the Commonwealth Games gold medal that same year. Italy's Gelindo Bordin won the gold medal at the 1987 European Championships.

The race started quite early, 2:30 PM, beneath a warm sun. The course started and finished at the Olympic Stadium, and looped out-and-back along the Han-Gang River. The weather led to a slow pace and at 25 km. the lead pack still had 13 runners. By 30 km. a group of six separated themselves and would contest the medals. Bordin and Salah were in this group, but de Castella had been distanced. At 40 km. Salah led, followed by Kenya's Douglas Wakiihuri, and then Bordin. But over the next kilometer, run downhill, Bordin passed Wakiihuri and Salah and held on to win the gold medal, with Wakiihuri getting silver, and Salah bronze. The margin of 15 seconds was the smallest in an Olympic marathon since 1920.

Final Standings

Rank Athlete Age Team NOC Medal T
1 Gelindo Bordin 29 Italy ITA Gold 2-10:32
2 Douglas Wakiihuri 24 Kenya KEN Silver 2-10:47
3 Ahmed Salah 31 Djibouti DJI Bronze 2-10:59
4 Takeyuki Nakayama 28 Japan JPN 2-11:05
5 Steve Moneghetti 25 Australia AUS 2-11:49
6 Charlie Spedding 36 Great Britain GBR 2-12:19
7 Juma Ikangaa 31 Tanzania TAN 2-13:06
8 Rob de Castella 31 Australia AUS 2-13:07
9 Toshihiko Seko 32 Japan JPN 2-13:41
10 Ravil Kashapov 31 Soviet Union URS 2-13:49
11 Jesús Herrera 26 Mexico MEX 2-13:58
12 John Campbell 39 New Zealand NZL 2-14:08
13 Gerard Nijboer 33 Netherlands NED 2-14:40
14 Pete Pfitzinger 31 United States USA 2-14:44
15 Marti ten Kate 29 Netherlands NED 2-14:53
16 Orlando Pizzolato 30 Italy ITA 2-15:20
17 Hisatoshi Shintaku 30 Japan JPN 2-15:42
18 Kim Won-Tak 24 South Korea KOR 2-15:44
19 Gianni Poli 30 Italy ITA 2-16:07
20 Dieudonné Lamothe 34 Haiti HAI 2-16:15
21 Dave Long 27 Great Britain GBR 2-16:18
22 Henrik Jørgensen 26 Denmark DEN 2-16:40
23 Ralf Salzmann 33 West Germany FRG 2-16:54
24 Dick Hooper 32 Ireland IRL 2-17:16
25 Mirko Vindiš 24 Yugoslavia YUG 2-17:47
26 Cai Shangyan 25 China CHN 2-17:54
27 Joaquim Silva 27 Portugal POR 2-18:05
28 Art Boileau 30 Canada CAN 2-18:20
29 Ed Eyestone 27 United States USA 2-19:09
30 Noureddine Sobhi 26 Morocco MAR 2-19:56
31 Yu Jae-Seong 28 South Korea KOR 2-20:11
32 Mehmet Terzi 33 Turkey TUR 2-20:12
33 Kevin Forster 29 Great Britain GBR 2-20:45
34 Bigboy Matlapeng 30 Botswana BOT 2-20:51
35 Allaoua Khellil 34 Algeria ALG 2-21:12
36 Justin Gloden 35 Luxembourg LUX 2-22:14
37 Alex Gonzalez 37 France FRA 2-22:24
38 Zhang Guowei 29 China CHN 2-22:49
39 Pedro Ortiz 32 Colombia COL 2-23:34
40 Ronaldo Lanzoni 29 Costa Rica CRC 2-23:45
41 Brad Camp 23 Australia AUS 2-23:49
42 Adolphe Ambowodé 30 Central African Republic CAF 2-23:52
43 John Burra 22 Tanzania TAN 2-24:17
44 Sam Hlawe 36 Swaziland SWZ 2-24:42
45 Juan Amores 24 Costa Rica CRC 2-24:49
46 Peter Maher 28 Canada CAN 2-24:49
47 Abdou Manzo Niger NIG 2-25:05
48 Diamantino dos Santos 27 Brazil BRA 2-25:13
49 Omar Moussa 27 Djibouti DJI 2-25:25
50 Carlos Retiz 19 Mexico MEX 2-25:34
51 Gary Fanelli 37 American Samoa ASA 2-25:35
52 John Woods 32 Ireland IRL 2-25:38
53 Gideon Mthembu 24 Swaziland SWZ 2-25:56
54 Baikuntha Manandhar 35 Nepal NEP 2-25:57
55 Karel David 24 Czechoslovakia TCH 2-26:12
56 Ivo Rodrígues 27 Brazil BRA 2-26:27
57 Martín Mondragón 34 Mexico MEX 2-27:10
58 Vusie Dlamini 30 Swaziland SWZ 2-28:06
59 Inni Aboubacar Niger NIG 2-28:15
60 Yohanna Waziri 23 Nigeria NGR 2-29:14
61 Noheku Nteso 26 Lesotho LES 2-29:44
62 Benjamin Longiros 25 Uganda UGA 2-30:29
63 Vincent Ruguga 28 Uganda UGA 2-31:04
64 Alfonso Abellán 37 Spain ESP 2-31:10
65 Vithanakande Samarasinghe 26 Sri Lanka SRI 2-31:29
66 Tika Bogati 25 Nepal NEP 2-31:49
67 Dave Edge 33 Canada CAN 2-32:19
68 Luis López 39 Costa Rica CRC 2-32:43
69 Juan Camacho 29 Bolivia BOL 2-34:41
70 Abbas Mohamed 24 Nigeria NGR 2-35:26
71 Ahmet Altun 30 Turkey TUR 2-37:44
72 James Gombedza 26 Zimbabwe ZIM 2-38:13
73 Kamana Koji 21 Congo (Kinshasa) COD 2-38:34
74 João Carvalho 37 Angola ANG 2-40:45
75 Aaron Dupnai 20 Papua New Guinea PNG 2-41:47
76 Binesh Prasad 25 Fiji FIJ 2-41:50
77 Calvin Dallas 36 United States Virgin Islands ISV 2-42:19
78 Telesphore Dusabe 23 Rwanda RWA 2-42:52
79 Eugène Muslar 29 Belize BIZ 2-43:29
80 Hassan Karimou Niger NIG 2-43:51
81 Wallace Williams 41 United States Virgin Islands ISV 2-44:40
82 Mohala Mohloli 26 Lesotho LES 2-44:44
83 Awadh Al-Sameer 27 Oman OMA 2-46:59
84 Derrick Adamson 30 Jamaica JAM 2-47:57
85 Krishna Bahadur Basnet 29 Nepal NEP 2-47:57
86 Fred Schumann 29 Guam GUM 2-49:52
87 John Mwathiwa 21 Malawi MAW 2-51:43
88 Marlon Williams 32 United States Virgin Islands ISV 2-52:06
89 Kaleka Mutoke 22 Congo (Kinshasa) COD 2-55:21
90 James Walker 34 Guam GUM 2-56:32
91 Mohiddin Mohamed Kulmiye Somalia SOM 2-58:10
92 Fred Ogwang 29 Uganda UGA 2-59:35
93 Naser Babapour 30 Iran IRI 3-00:20
94 Ricardo Taitano Guam GUM 3-03:19
95 Baba Ibrahim Suma-Keita 41 Sierra Leone SLE 3-04:00
96 Alassane Bah Guinea GUI 3-06:27
97 Nguyễn Văn Thuyết 32 Vietnam VIE 3-10:57
98 Polin Belisle 22 Belize BIZ 3-14:02
AC Ibrahim Hussein 30 Kenya KEN DNF
AC Jörg Peter 32 East Germany GDR DNF
AC John Treacy 31 Ireland IRL DNF
AC Moustafa El-Nechchadi 25 Morocco MAR DNF
AC Geir Kvernmo 32 Norway NOR DNF
AC Bruno Lafranchi 33 Switzerland SUI DNF
AC Alain Lazare 36 France FRA DNF
AC Paulo Catarino 24 Portugal POR DNF
AC Omar Aguilar 28 Chile CHI DNF
AC Dirk Vanderherten 31 Belgium BEL DNF
AC Mark Conover 28 United States USA DNF
AC Gwon Seong-Nak 23 South Korea KOR DNF
AC Honorato Hernández 32 Spain ESP DNF
AC Martin Vrábeľ 32 Czechoslovakia TCH DNF
AC John Maeke 26 Solomon Islands SOL DNF
AC George Mambosasa 24 Malawi MAW DNF
AC Abdul Haji Abdul Latheef 17 Maldives MDV DNF
AC Hussein Haleem 19 Maldives MDV DNF
AC Ahmed Mohamed Ismail 24 Somalia SOM DNF
AC Joseph Kipsang 25 Kenya KEN DNF