Who coined the name “marathon” for the modern long-distance race?

Michel Bréal coined the name “marathon” for the modern long-distance race.

Bréal, a French scholar and supporter of the Olympic revival, proposed a race from the plain of Marathon to Athens for the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. The event drew on the ancient story of a Greek messenger associated with the Battle of Marathon.

The race was not an unchanged survival from ancient Greece. Its modern form was created for the Olympic program, and the distance varied in early editions. The 1908 London Olympics later used a course of 42.195 kilometres, which eventually became the standard marathon distance.

The inaugural Olympic marathon was won by Greek runner Spyridon Louis. Bréal’s role explains why the event bears the place-name “Marathon,” rather than a generic Greek word for long-distance running.