As the sun came up over Santa Monica Boulevard on August 12th, not far from the starting point of the race at the Santa Monica College track, volunteers, LAPD (police) and officials began to make preparations for the men’s marathon to be held throughout the city later that day. it was the final event on the program and the runners would make their way into the stadium at around 7.10pm- 7.20pm, just prior to the closing ceremony
There were, in addition to the course drink stations dotted along the course, several hoses and sprinklers suspended above the road, there to provide additional cooling to athletes who would have to deal with the heat of the late afternoon. It was forecast to be somewhere around 30°C and over 80% humidity.
As mentioned in Part 1, there were fears for the marathon runners’ well-being during these Olympics, given the heat and humidity of a California summer, fears that were not entirely unfounded.
The USA’s Joan Benoit was seemingly untroubled by the weather conditions in her now legendary performance in the inaugural running of the women’s marathon, when she stole a lead coming out of a drink station after 4.5km and ran away with the race (2.24.52), finishing a minute and a half up on world champion Grete Waitz (NOR). Aussie Lisa Martin – now Ondieki – was 7th behind Benoit, Waitz, Rosa Mota (POR), Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR), Lorraine Moller (NZL) and Priscilla Welch (GBR). Benoit was within 2min 9 of her world record and a number of women ran PBs.
However, the final lap of 37th place finisher, Gabriela Andersen-Schiess (SUI) is indelibly seared into the memory of those who witnessed her stagger and weave her way to the line once in the stadium. It was reminiscent of Jim Peters in the 1954 Vancouver British Empire Games, or Callum Hawkins in the Brisbane Commonwealth Games in 2018, when the Scot collapsed at the 40km mark. A dehydrated and clearly distressed Andersen-Schiess made it to the line, though just barely, and this incident had many worried for the men in a few days’ time.
There was a buzz around the streets as runners warmed up at the Santa Monica College stadium track. It had been a magnificent Games for athletics, one of the best ever. Carl Lewis (USA) had emulated his idol Jesse Owens by winning 4 gold medals (100m, 200m, 4 x 100m relay and the long jump), British superstars Sebastian Coe (1500m) and Daley Thompson (decathlon) had successfully defended their titles. Valerie Brisco-Hooks had won a spectacular double over 200m and 400m.Mary Decker (USA), a double world champion and huge favourite for the 3000m, fell after clipping the heel of South African born British athlete Zola Budd. Budd was booed by the parochial crowd and faded to 7th, finishing the race in tears.
This was one of the greatest marathon fields ever, with all the big favourites on the starting line. The Communist boycott of these Games meant that neither the reigning champion Waldemar Cierpinski (GDR), nor the top Ethiopian contingent (World Championships silver medallist Kebede Balcha and others) would start. Realistically though, none of the runners in the boycotting nations were considered medal chances.
At 5pm sharp, the gun went off and a field of 107 runners ran a few laps of the track before heading out onto the roads under the blazing late afternoon sun.
Gidamis Shahanga (TAN) led the pack early and Gerard Nijboer (NED) took on the pace after 2km as the field headed north-west to Malibu, before taking a sharp turn south-east towards the coast. The opening 3km were run in about 9.15. with a large pack spread out behind the big Dutchman. Rob de Castella (AUS), Carlos Lopes (POR), Toshihiko Seko (JAP), Rod Dixon (NZL) and Alberto Salazar (USA) were all content to hang back.
Cor Lambregts (NED) took over from his teammate and led through 5km up a slightly uphill section in around 15.28 and as the pack swallowed up Lambregts, there was still a huge pack which contained most of the favourites (de Castella, Lopes, Ikangaa, Dixon et al).
After the pack slowed between 6km and 9km, Somalian Ahmed Ismail, joined by Juma Ikangaa (TAN) and Kim Ngeny (KEN), went through 10km in 31.07 and this small breakaway group continued to surge hard at slightly under 3 minute km pace as the pack moved south-east along the coast, though the group reeled them in after 13km. De Castella (‘Deek’ to Aussie fans) and Lopes were still there, with Alberto Salazar (USA) drifting off the pace. The crowds around Venice Beach were huge, as Joseph Nzau (KEN), Shahanga and Ikangaa and Nijboer pushed on, with the leaders now on about 2.09.45 tempo.
Through halfway in 1.04.53, Nzau led a pack of about 10, which included Charlie Spedding (GBR), John Treacy (IRE), Ikangaa, Lopes, de Castella and Dixon, Seko and twins Shigeru & Takeshi So (JAP). The same group stayed together for the next 10km or so and they were joined by Treacy’s compatriot Jerry Kiernan at around 26km. Salazar was about 35 seconds off the pace, running alongside Hugh Jones (GBR) and really struggling.
The pace slowed slightly during this section and they were now at about 2.11.00 pace at 30km. Salazar was now a minute or so behind as Nzau and Ikangaa began testing the others, surging slightly and Deek appeared to struggle to go with these surges and dropped off the pace by 15-20 metres.
At around 33km, Charlie Spedding noticed de Castella losing ground and decided to make a sustained, hard surge. Deek dropped off even more and, at 34km, was now 10th, just behind Kiernan, about 30-odd metres off the pace. The lead group was down to eight (Spedding, Ikangaa, Nzau, Treacy, Lopes, Takeshi So, Seko and Ahmed Saleh of Djibouti)
Spedding decided it was now all or nothing and continued to push hard. At 35 km, the group was down to 6 (Spedding, Lopes, Ikangaa, Nzau, Treacy and Takeshi So). They were now moving at just under 3 minute per km pace and, a few hundred metres later, only Lopes, Nzau and Treacy (running his debut marathon) were able to live with the Englishman.
At 37km, Nzau was dropping off and it was at this point that the canny veteran Lopes began his move and almost immediately began to move away from Spedding and Treacy. At 38km, the pint-sized Portuguese star was already about 10 seconds in front of the Englishman and Irishman, who were now in a battle for silver.
Lopes was on fire, and was running the race of his career at an age when most international athletes would already have been retired for several years. He was moving further in front, moving at around 2.55 per km and looking as smooth as he had for the entire race.
As Lopes came into the stadium, the crowd roared for the aging star as Treacy made his move outside the stadium and stole a lead on Spedding.
Lopes won by a full half a lap of the stadium track, looking remarkably fresh after smashing the Cierpinski’s Olympic record by over 30 seconds (2.09.21). It would remain the Olympic record for 24 years until beaten by Samuel Wanjiru (KEN) in Beijing 2008. Lopes had run the final 5km in 14.35, an incredible finish in such conditions.
Treacy held on for silver (2.09.56) in one of the great moment in Irish sporting history, from Spedding (2.09.58), who was one of three men from the British distance team from the North East of England to medal at the Games (Mike McLeod, silver, 10,000m and Steve Cram, silver, 1500m being the other two). One of the remarkable aspects of the marathon podium at these Games was the fact that, prior to the Games, these three medallists had completed just three marathons between them.
Takeshi So ran well for 4th (2.10.55) and Deek, who looked completely spent at 33km, had made a remarkable comeback, finishing 5th (2.11.08), outsprinting his great rival Ikangaa in the straight to beat the Tanzanian by one second, Nzau was 7th, Djama Robleh (DJI) was 8th, Jerry Kiernan held on for the performance of his career to finish 9th, in front of Rod Dixon who made a late run to reel in several stragglers to finish in 10th.
Seko and Salazar were disappointing, finishing in 14th and 15th respectively (Seko 2.14.13, Salazar 2.14.19). The tough conditions took their toll, with 29 men failing to finish. They included fairly big names, such as Geoff Smith (GBR), Nijboer, Rodolfo Gomez (MEX) and World Championships 4th placegetter, Kjell-Erik Stahl (SWE).
Carlos Lopes was feted throughout his homeland as one of its greatest ever sporting heroes, having won its first Olympic gold in the 72 years of Portuguese Olympic history. Ten weeks after the Games, he matched up again with Deek in Chicago and although he finished ahead of Deek (2.09.06 to 2.09.09), both men were blown away by Welshman Steve Jones, who in winning the race, not only beat de Castella’s world record (2.08.05), but did so as he completed his first ever marathon (Jones had dropped out of the Chicago Marathon the previous year).
The following year, the 38 year-old Lopes enjoyed an end to his career that even the greatest athletes could only ever dream of. He had an astonishing win at home in Lisbon at the 1985 World Cross Country Championships, winning his second successive and third overall World Cross Country Championship and followed that up a few weeks later by smashing Jones’ world marathon record in Rotterdam. Lopes destroyed the record by 53 seconds (2.07.12) in a perfectly planned, beautifully executed run. It was the perfect end to a magnificent career and Lopes is a much-venerated figure in his homeland, four decades after his greatest triumph.
Treacy continued in the sport for a decade more, notching up some good results, though none topped his Olympic medal and two World Cross Country titles. He ran 5th in Lisbon at the World Cross Country Championships and was a finalist in the 1987 World Championships (26th in the 10,000m and 13th in the 5000m) and 1986 European Championships (6th in the 10,000m). He won the Great North Run in 1988, though failed to finish the Olympic Marathon that year. He was 51st in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Marathon. Treacy enjoyed a great career on the roads in the US, winning many big races. He now heads the Irish Sports Council.
Charlie Spedding continued on, running second behind Steve Jones’ course record in London the following year. He pushed Jones all the way, stealing a lead late in the race after an urgent toilet stop by Jones. Jones eventually ran Spedding down and won (2.08.16 to Spedding’s English record 2.08.33). He dropped out of the 1986 Commonwealth Games marathon and was 10th in London 1987. He was 6th in the 1988 Seoul Olympic Marathon, in an incredibly gutsy performance behind Steve Moneghetti and two places ahead of de Castella, who was just beaten by a second by Ikangaa, the tiny Tanzanian getting a measure of revenge on the Aussie.
Takeshi So competed at the elite level for almost another decade. He never reached the heights of his early career, but was a consistent top ten placegetter in international marathons in Japan and abroad.
Juma Ikangaa enjoyed a solid career as a marathon specialist for another decade. His greatest career performances were his wins in Tokyo 1986 (2.08.10) and New York 1989 (2.08.01). His best major championship runs were his 6th place finishes in LA and the 1987 World Championships. He was a welcome guest and popular winner in the Melbourne Marathon in 1984 and he retired from competitive running in 1995.
Dixon, who had enjoyed a great career on the track, roads and over cross country, ran for a few more years, though without great success. He has since become a successful businessman and public speaker. He is known for his controversial public statements and a charming if occasionally egotistical persona. His often abrasive manner has led to some clashes with officials and running mates, notably his falling out with, and subsequent reconciliation with close friend and former training partner Sir John Walker.
Toshihiko Seko had great success in subsequent years, though never won a medal at championship level. In 1986 he won the London and Chicago marathons (with a PB of 2.08.27 in the Windy City). He won a star-studded Boston Marathon in 1987 and collected the Lake Biwa title in 1988, but finished 9th behind de Castella in Seoul.
He retired after Seoul and he has become a successful distance running coach in Japan.
Alberto Salazar faded out of the sport after LA, physically and mentally exhausted. He had clearly pushed himself beyond his limits and began to break down, suffering multiple injuries and frequently becoming ill. He was unable to qualify for Seoul and took an extended break from running. He came back to running in the early ’90s and switched to ultramarathons. He won the 1994 Comrades Marathon in South Africa – over an insanely tough 88km course – and promptly retired from running and switched to coaching.
He coached World Champion and former clubmate Mary Decker in the latter stages of her career, but both were embroiled in scandal when Decker tested positive to an excessive testosterone to epitestosterone ratio. She was banned in 1997, but subsequently reinstated. The IAAF appealed and the ban was retroactively reinstated, meaning she was stripped of her 1997 World Indoor 1500m silver.
In the 2000s, he became a key coach in the Nike Oregon Project, coaching some of the greatest distance runners in the world, such as Sir Mo Farah, Galen Rupp, Sifan Hassan and Alan Webb et al.
Salazar survived a heart attack in 2007, but survived and went on to achieve his greatest coaching success with his athletes winning multiple major championship medals and world and area records. Farah and Hassan in particular are regarded as two of the greatest of all time.
A BBC Panorama and ProPublica investigation obtained several credible testimonies from athletes asserting that Salazar had been involved in microdosing athletes with various PEDs and there have been several allegations of bullying and unacceptable mistreatment of athletes – both emotional and physical. His doping ban ended last year, though he is considered ‘permanently ineligible’ to coach athletes by the SafeSport USA organisation. He has been subject to several lawsuits and has become virtually persona non grata among the international athletics community, a sad ending for a man once so well-respected in the sport.
Rob de Castella, on the other hand, has quite a different reputation in the athletics world. Deek had a steady couple of years after the disappointment of LA, though failed to win a marathon in 1985 and had some patchy form throughout the year, though he did run 2.08.48 for third in Chicago, behind Steve Jones’ phenomenal near world record run (2.07.13). He came back to the top with a stunning performance the following year in Boston. Deek smashed his own national record and ran the third fastest of all time (2.07.51) with an amazing front running performance to win one of the world’s most prestigious marathons. He defended his Commonwealth title that year, with a dominant win in Edinburgh in 2.10.15 (the race, as mentioned, included an auspicious debut run and bronze medal by a 23 year-old from Ballarat, called Steve Moneghetti).
Deek was unsuccessful in his defence of his World Championship title in 1987 in Rome, dropping out late in the race. Moneghetti was an incredible 4th in only his second marathon. He did win the Great North Run that year, but his form was up and down. He came back with a 2.08.49 in Tokyo early in 1988 and this, for some commentators, made Deek an outside medal chance for the Seoul Olympic Games later that year. He ran a solid 8th place in the Korean capital, but soon experienced a number of injury problems which almost signalled the end of his career.
He moved back to Canberra after a few years in Colorado and was appointed Director of the Australian Institute of Sport in 1990. He now had to juggle training and the demands of a growing young family on top of an incredibly demanding job and his running continued to suffer. In 1991, Deek experienced a minor career revival at the age of 34, when he ran an impressive 2.09.42 to again win the Rotterdam marathon, eight years after his legendary win over Lopes and Salazar in the ancient Dutch port city. He also finished 4th behind Moneghetti’s record-breaking win (40.03) in the greatest ever City to Surf race, running his second fastest time (41.00) over the tough, hilly 14km from the Sydney CBD to Bondi Beach.
Deek stayed in the AIS job until 1995 and has since had a rich and varied career. He’s been a commentator at major athletics championships, started a bakery and he has worked with schools promoting activity and good dietary habits. He is also an impressive public speaker. Most recently, he has been at the helm of the Indigenous Marathon Project, where his organisation has been involved helping many young indigenous athletes in achieving the goal of running a marathon.
He has endured a painful divorce from first wife Gaylene and lost his house and many of his medals, awards and much of his other memorabilia in the 2003 ACT fires. Luckily neither he, nor any family was harmed. He has since remarried and is happily settled in Canberra with new wife Theresa and new young family. His children are doing well in various fields of academia, psychology and tech innovation.
Rob de Castella is one of our greatest ever athletes and he holds a special place in Australian athletics as our first ever World Champion. He has been an inspiration and role model for generations of young athletes throughout the country. Though unsuccessful in his pursuit of Olympic gold, his performance on that warm afternoon in California forty years ago was emblematic of the man’s courage, determination and commitment. The Olympic men’s marathon of Los Angeles 1984 still stands up as one of the all time great marathons.
The author wishes to thank Athletics Weekly, Runners’ World, The New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC TV (USA), the BBC, worldathletics.org, Sydney Morning Herald and Televisao Portuguesa.
You left out Dixon’s NY marathon win.