Origins

Marathon, today known as Marathónas, is an ancient Greek town situated on the Attica, 40 kilometres North East of Athens. In 490 B.C., the Athenians, driven by Miltiade and helped by a battalion of Platonians, won a famous military victory which put an end to the first Median war. Tradition holds that, in order to reassure his fellow citizens, Miltiade sent a messenger, the soldier Philippidès, who ran the distance with such haste that he died of exhaustion upon arrival. It is to celebrate his heroism that the marathon competition was created.

Ancient Games

The origin of the Olympic Games is linked to the religious fervour that the large cities of ancient Greece displayed for Zeus, the King of Olympia, during festivals given in his honour. It is in Olympia, from 776 B.C., that, every four years, sporting competitions were run (Agônes). A real institution in ancient times, the Olympian assembly lasted more than a thousand years. However, it progressively lost its religious connotations and disappeared in the year 394 A.D., banned by the Emperor Théodose the Ist, who saw it as a symbol of paganism..

Modern Olympic Games

It was only at the end of the XIXth Century, at a time when sport was rapidly developing, that the Olympic Games were restored, according to the wishes of Pierre de Coubertin, President of the IOC (International Olympic Committee) from 1896 to 1925. The first modern Games were organised in Athens in 1896: the Greek shepherd Spiridon Louys won the first Olympic Marathon. The Olympic history of the Marathon is punctuated with legendary exploits: in 1908, the Italian Dorando Pietri collapsed in the stadium at the finish of the London Olympic Games: supported by officials who helped him to cross the finishing line, he was disqualified; in 1956, the Frenchman Alain Mimoun, in his first race over such a distance, won in the Melbourne Olympic Games; in 1960 in Rome, the Ethiopian, Abebe Bikila, ran barefoot and won; he won again in Tokyo in 1964.

Running, a sport for everyone

Le marathon connaît un essor particulier à partir des années 1970 avec la création d'épreuves de masse mêlant spécialistes et amateurs. Les plus connus sont les marathons de New York et Paris, créés sous leur forme actuelle d'épreuves de masse en 1976.