The Olympic Marathon through iconic photographs

LOS ANGELES 1984.
While Swiss athlete ANDERSEN-SCHIESS' stagger to the finish line goes down in history, it isn't just female marathon runners who have succumbed to exhaustion. Italian runner Marco MARCHEI, for instance, finishes 43^rd out of 78 in a time of 2 hours, 22 minutes and 38 seconds.

On 5 August 1984, American athlete  Joan BENOIT etches her name in Olympic history by winning the first ever women's marathon. She completes the race in an impressive time of 2 hours, 24 minutes and 52 seconds.
While this is her first Olympic victory, Benoit previously won the prestigious Boston Marathon in 1979 and 1983.

Portuguese athlete Carlos LOPES seals victory and sets a new Olympic record with a time of 2 hours, 9 minutes and 21 seconds. Just a year later, in Rotterdam, Lopes breaks the world record again, shaving an impressive 53 seconds off his previous time. African athletes will dominate the world records in the coming years.

The marathon sets off from Santa Monica College. Athletes have to complete two laps of the track before leaving the stadium and rejoining the road to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, after 42.195 kilometres.

Rio 2006.
This athlete sits on ice packs to recover after her race.

Czechoslovak athlete Emil ZÁTOPEK  is congratulated by his wife after winning gold in the marathon, a race he is competing in for the first time.

Dana Zátopková wins the gold medal in the javelin just an hour after her husband's victory in the 5,000 metres.

Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge has just secured his second Olympic title.
Some already consider him the greatest marathon runner of all time : the holder of two Olympic titles, a world record in 2018 in Berlin in 2 hours, 1 minute and 39 seconds,  and in 2019 in Vienna, in  1 hour, 59 minutes and 40 seconds (unofficial).

Ethiopian athlete Abebe BIKILA defies the odds and dominates the marathon, despite undergoing surgery for acute appendicitis just 35 days earlier. He triumphs with a new record time of 2 hours, 12 minutes and 11 seconds. In contrast to his barefoot victory at Rome 1960, Bikila runs this race wearing shoes.

Crossing the finish line in first place, perfectly relaxed and seemingly unfatigued, American runner Frank SHORTER changes the image of the exhausted marathoner and unintentionally ignites the marathon boom, with New York soon becoming the marathon world capital.

Giant mist sprayers are set up along the route to cool down runners.

The competitors exit the stadium, ready to tackle the gruelling 42.195 km course.
French athlete El Ouafi BOUGHÈRA wins, crossing the finish line in a time of 2 hours, 32 minutes and 57 seconds.

South African athlete Kennedy McARTHUR: the unstoppable winner !
Exhausted no doubt by the sweltering heat, he crosses the finishing tape and continues to run. Officials have to inform him that the race is over. McArthur then collapses on the grass. 

With a remarkable finishing time of 2 hours, 21 minutes and 36 seconds, 21-year-old Argentine Juan Carlos ZABALA doesn't yet know that he has just broken the Olympic record for the marathon . He remains the youngest winner of the event in the history of the modern Games.