Olympic Marathon Winners Trivia Quiz

Answer: Spyridon Louis

The route of the first Marathon was between the city of Marathon and the Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens. The distance was 40 km and the winner posted a time of just under three hours (2:58:50). Spyridon Louis was an instant national hero and the Olympic stadium in Athens (built for the 2004 Olympics) bears his name.

Another Greek, Kharilaos Vasilakos, finished in second place and Hungarian Gyula Kellner in third. Australian Edwin Flack and American Arthur Blake did not finish the race.

Answer: USA

Thomas Hicks was the winner, Albert Corey was second and Arthur Newton was third. Cuban Andarin Carvajal finished fourth, Greek Demetrios Veloulis finished fifth and South African Len Tau was ninth. Another three USA athletes occupied positions six to nine and a Greek athlete finished tenth.

Answer: Abebe Bikila

Ethiopian Abebe Bikila won gold in Rome 1960 and Tokyo 1964. Abebe Bikila ran the Rome Marathon barefoot and his winning time of 2:15:16.2 was a new Olympic record. He set a new Olympic record when he won the event in Tokyo 1964 with 2:12:11.2. The other three athletes won the Olympic Marathon once: Mamo Wolde in Mexico (1968), Frank Shorter in Munich (1972), and Emil Zatopek in Helsinki (1952).

Answer: East Germany

Waldemar Cierpinski represented the then East Germany and won gold in Montreal (1976) and Moscow (1980). He was the second athlete to achieve this feat. The first was Abebe Bikila in 1960 and 1964.

Answer: Finland

Finish athlete Hannes Kolehmainen won the 1920 Marathon in Antwerp and Albin Stenroos won the 1924 Marathon in Paris. Athletes from Italy, Argentina and Japan have won Olympic gold in the Marathon. Argentina is in South America and Japan in Asia.

Answer: Frank Shorter

Frank Shorter won gold in Munich (1972) and silver in Montreal (1976). Thomas Hicks won gold in the 1904 games in St. Louis, Johnny Hayes won gold in the 1908 games in London and Mebrahtom "Meb" Keflezighi won silver in the 2004 Athens games.

Answer: Ethiopia

Ethiopia won their fourth Olympic gold medal in Sydney (2000) with Gezahegne Abera. The other three medals were won by Abebe Bikila (1960, 1964) and Mamo Wolde (1968). Ethiopia was also the first nation to win three consecutive gold medals.

Answer: Kenya

Samuel Wanjiru represented Kenya and his time of 2:06:32 was a new Olympic record, second place went to Jaouad Gharib of Morocco and third place went to Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia. The Eritrean athlete Yared Asmerom finished in eighth place.

Answer: Uganda

Stephen Kiprotich won gold for Uganda and two Kenyan athletes, Abel Kirui and Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich, won silver and bronze respectively. Stephen Kiprotich's winning time was 2:08:01. An athlete from Zimbabwe finished in seventh place and a Moroccan finished in 18th position.

Answer: Italy

Stefano Baldini won the gold medal for Italy with a time of 2:10:55. Mebrahtom "Meb" Keflezighi won silver for USA, Vanderlei de Lima won bronze for Brazil and Jon Brown of Great Britain finished in fourth place. The gold medal was Italy's second in Olympic Games. Gelindo Bordin won gold for Italy in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.