The men's marathon at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, was held on Saturday September 10, 1960.

Abebe Bikila, who ran the race barefoot, finished in world record time and became the first sub-Saharan African to win an Olympic gold medal.

Sergei Popov of the Soviet Union, the world record holder and one of only two men (along with Jim Peters) to have run under 2 hours and 20 minutes, was favored.

[3] Ceylon, Liberia, Morocco, and Tunisia each made their first appearance in Olympic marathons.

The United States made its 14th appearance, the only nation to have competed in each Olympic marathon to that point.