Marathon, Men

For the first time since the 1904 St. Louis Olympics, the marathon favorite in 1972 was an American, Frank Shorter. A former track and cross-country runner at Yale, he had won the Pan-American Games marathon and the Fukuoka race in 1971, establishing him as the favorite. The race was held on the last day of the München Olympics, five days after the tragedy involving the Israeli Olympic team, which made all competitions seem meaningless. It started in the Olympic Stadium at 3 PM, and was run over an out-and-back course. Shorter won the race fairly comfortably, moving into the lead by 15 km., and was never challenged. The silver medal went to Belgium’s Karel Lismont while defending champion Mamo Wolde won the bronze medal.

Unfortunately, Shorter was not the first “runner” to enter the Olympic stadium. A West Germany student, Norbert Südhaus, decided to pull a prank and ran onto the Olympic course just outside the stadium. He ran around the track and was not pulled by officials until he neared the finish line. When Shorter entered the stadium, he saw Südhaus running on the track and did not know who he was. Shorter became the third American to win the Olympic marathon, and none of them was actually the first runner in the stadium at the end of the race. In 1904, Tom Hicks won the race, but Fred Lorz, who had dropped out, hitched a car ride, and decided to run into the stadium. In 1908, Italy’s Dorando Pietri led the race in the last half and entered the stadium first. But he was on the verge of collapse, and though officials helped him across the line, he was disqualified for illegal assistance, allowing America’s Johnny Hayes to win the gold medal.