The men's marathon at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, was held on Sunday August 12, 1984.

Great Britain returned to the podium for the first time since 1964 with Charlie Spedding taking bronze.

The two-time defending champion, Waldemar Cierpinski of East Germany, was prevented from trying for a third gold by the Eastern Bloc boycott.

[3] Botswana, the Central African Republic, Cyprus, Djibouti, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, the Virgin Islands, and Zaire each made their first appearance in Olympic men's marathons; the Republic of China made its first appearance as Chinese Taipei.

The marathon distance of 26 miles, 385 yards was run over a point-to-point route starting at Santa Monica College and ending at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.