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These are the male Olympic medalists in athletics. See Olympic medalists in athletics (women) for female medalists, category:athletes for other track and field athletes and Olympic medalists for medalists in other sports.
60 mThis event has only been held twice. Both winners, Kraenzlein and Hahn, were also successful in other events, and share a total of 7 Olympic sprint titles.
100 mThe 100 m has been part of the Olympics since the beginning in 1896, and is usually among the best publicised events. It has been dominated by Americans, who have won 16 out of 25 titles. Only two athletes have won the title twice, Archie Hahn and Carl Lewis. Hahn won his titles only two years apart, while Lewis only retained his title after Canadian runner Ben Johnson, winner of the final, was disqualified after he tested positive for steroids.
200 mThe 200 m is the event most like the stadion event, which was the first event contested at the ancient Olympics. It was introduced at the Olympics in 1900, and has been held ever since, with the exception of the 1906 Intercalated Games. 1904 marked the only occasion at which the 200 m was run on a track without a curve. Like the 100 m, Americans have dominated this event, with 17 wins. No athlete has been able to win the 200 m twice, but eight sprinters have managed to win the 100 and 200 m at the same Olympics.
400 mThe 400 m, the one lap long sprint (on a modern track), has been part of the Olympics since the first Olympics in 1896. The event has been dominated by Americans, who have won 18 of the 25 titles. The first runner to defend his title successfully was Michael Johnson, who won the championship in 1996 and 2000. In 1908, the final was a walkover for British runner Wyndham Halswelle. He had been obstructed by the American runner John Carpenter in the first final, which was the reason for a re-run. However, the other runners — both American — refused to run, leaving the title to Halswelle.
800 mThe 800 m, the shortest of the so-called middle distances, has always been on the Olympic programme. In the past, the distance was dominated by Americans (9 wins) and Britons (6 wins), but there have been no winners from these countries since 1972 and 1980, respectively. Three athletes have succeeded in winning two consecutive titles in the 800 m: Douglas Lowe (Great Britain), Mal Whitfield (United States) and Peter Snell (New Zealand).
1500 mThe 1500 m, also known as the "metric mile", has been run at the Olympic Games since 1896, and has known winners from 12 different countries. Two of them, Jim Lightbody and Sebastian Coe, have won the event two times. Many athletes are able to run both the 1500 m and the 800 m well, and five Olympians have managed to win both titles. The only athlete to achieve this feat after World War II is New Zealand's Peter Snell. A rarer double is the 1500 m and 5000 m; only two athletes, Paavo Nurmi in 1924 and Hicham El Guerrouj in 2004, have accomplished this feat.
5000 mThe first 5000 m was run at the 1912 Summer Olympics and the event has never left the programme since. With 7 Olympic champions, Finland has won the most 5000 m titles, but African runners have dominated the event since the late 1960s. Only Lasse Virén has managed to retain his Olympic title, in 1972 and 1976. The original 1984 silver medallist, Martti Vainio of Finland, was disqualified after failing his drugs test.
5 milesThe 5 miles (8047 m) has been featured on the Olympic programme twice, in 1906 and 1908. The race was won by British runners on both occasions.
10000 mThe 10000 m is the longest track event in the Olympics, which was added to the Games in 1912. Finnish runners have won this event 7 times, but, like the 5000 m, the 10000 m is currently the domain of the Africans. Four runners have won the event twice, Paavo Nurmi being the only to win the event eight years apart. In 1924, he was unable to compete, as Finnish officials thought he had entered enough events already. Six Olympians have won the 5000 and 10000 m at the same Olympics, Lasse Virén even on two occasions. Nurmi has also won both events, but not at the same Olympics.
MarathonThe marathon was invented for the 1896 Olympics, and has been contested at all Olympics since. The distance of the marathon at the Olympics has varied in the early years, before being standardised at 42,195 m in 1924, the distance that was run at the 1908 Olympics. In other years, the distances have been:
Two marathon runners have won the Olympic marathon twice, Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia and Waldemar Cierpinski, of East Germany. With four wins, Ethiopia has been the most successful nation in the Olympic marathon. Several disqualifications have affected the order of the medallists in this event. In 1896, Greek runner Spiridon Belokas, third, had ridden part of the course by cart. Eight years later, American Fred Lorz cheated in a similar way, covering most of the race by automobile. He crossed the line first, and claimed it had been a joke when his fraud was discovered. Italian runner Dorando Pietri finished first in the 1908 marathon, but was disqualified for being helped by officials in the last part of his race, during which he collapsed several times.
110 m hurdlesThe 110 m hurdles, or high hurdles, have been part of the Olympics since Athens 1896. Americans have won 19 of the 25 titles. Two Americans, Lee Calhoun and Roger Kingdom, are the only ones to have won the event more than once. In 1896, the final was only contested by two athletes, because the other two finalists decided not to compete.
200 m hurdlesThe 200 m hurdles event was only contested in 1900 and 1904. It was then discontinued, despite the fact that it was held at the US national championships until 1961.
400 m hurdlesIntroduced in 1900, the 400 m hurdles have been contested at most Olympic Games since, save 1906 and 1912. The United States have been the dominant nation, winning 17 times. Glenn Davis and Edwin Moses are the only low hurdlers to have won the Olympic title twice. Moses won his titles eight years apart, while being unable to compete in the 1980 Olympics due to the American boycott of these Games. In 1904, the hurdles were only 2 ft 6 inches high, as opposed to the normal 3 ft (91.4 cm).
2500 m steeplechaseThe first Olympic steeplechase was held in 1900, when the event was on the programme twice, with a 2500 m and a 4000 m variant. Winner George Orton was Canada's first Olympic champion.
2590 m steeplechaseThe 1904 steeple chase was held over 5 laps of the track, which measured one third of a mile.
3000 m steeplechaseThe steeplechase distance was standardised at 3000 m in 1920, which has been the distance to present. In 1932, though, the distance run in the final was 3490 m because of a lap counting error. Joe McCluskey would have placed second if the race had finished after 3000 m, but he declined the opportunity of a re-run. Kenyan steeplechasers have won all eight times they have entered during the last ten Olympics (they boycotted the 1976 and 1980 Games). One Volmari Iso-Hollo has won the event twice.
3200 m steeplechaseThe steeplechase was held over 3200 m in 1908, before it was standardised to 3000 m twelve years later.
4000 m steeplechaseThe 1900 4000 m steeplechase was one of the two steeplechase events that year. The event was never held again.
4 × 100 m relayThe first Olympic 4 × 100 m relay was held in 1912, since then it has been included at every Olympics. The United States have been the dominant nation in this competition. They have won it 15 times. On the other six occasions, they were disqualified three times (1912 semi-finals, 1960 final, 1988 first round), while in 1980, the Americans boycotted the Olympics. 1996 and 2004 marked the only defeats for the Americans when they were beaten by Canada and Great Britain respectively. Originally, the Americans were also disqualified after the 1948 final, but after the officials studied the film footage of the race, the disqualification was overturned. Only two nations won medals in 1912, as the third nation in the final, Germany, was disqualified.
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