1500 metres
The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilometers or approximately 15⁄16 miles.
| Athletics 1500 metres | |
|---|---|
 Olavi Salsola, Olavi Salonen and Olavi Vuorisalo (The three Olavis) break the 1,500 m world record in 1957 in Turku, Finland. | |
| World records | |
| Men |  Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) 3:26.00 (1998) |
| Women |  Genzebe Dibaba (ETH) 3:50.07 (2015) |
| Olympic records | |
| Men |  Noah Ngeny (KEN) 3:32.07 (2000) |
| Women |  Paula Ivan (ROM) 3:53.96 (1988) |
| World Championship records | |
| Men | Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) 3:27.65 (1999) |
| Women |  Sifan Hassan (NED) 3:51.95 (2019) |
The demands of the race are similar to that of the 800 metres, but with a slightly higher emphasis on aerobic endurance and a slightly lower sprint speed requirement. The 1500 metre race is predominantly aerobic, but anaerobic conditioning is also required.[1]
Each lap run during the world-record race run by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco in 1998 in Rome, Italy averaged just under 55 seconds (or under 13.8 seconds per 100 metres).[2] 1,500 metres is three and three-quarter laps around a 400-metre track. During the 1970s and 1980s this race was dominated by British runners, along with an occasional Finn, American, or New Zealander, but through the 1990s many African runners began to win Olympic medals in this race, especially runners from Kenya, Morocco and Algeria.
In the Modern Olympic Games, the men's 1,500-metre race has been contested from the beginning, and at every Olympic Games since. The first winner, in 1896, was Edwin Flack of Australia, who also won the first gold medal in the 800-metre race. The women's 1,500-metre race was first added to the Summer Olympics in 1972, and the winner of the first gold medal was Lyudmila Bragina of the Soviet Union. During the Olympic Games of 1972 through 2008, the women's 1,500-metre race has been won by three Soviets plus one Russian, one Italian, one Romanian, one Briton, one Kenyan, and two Algerians. The 2012 Olympic results are still undecided as a result of multiple doping cases. The best women's times for the race were controversially[3] set by Chinese runners, all set in the same race on just two dates 4 years apart at the Chinese National Games. At least one of those top Chinese athletes has admitted to being part of a doping program.[4] The women's record was finally surpassed by Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia in 2015.
In American high schools, the mile run (which is 1609.344 metres in length) and the 1,600-metre run, also colloquially referred to as "metric mile", are more frequently run than the 1,500-metre run, since US customary units are better-known in America. Which distance is used depends on which state the high school is in, and, for convenience, national rankings are standardized by converting all 1,600-metre run times to their mile run equivalents.[5]
Strategy
Many 1500 metres events, particularly at the championship level, turn into slow, strategic races, with the pace quickening and competitors jockeying for position in the final lap to settle the race in a final sprint. Such is the difficulty of maintaining the pace throughout the duration of the event, most records are set in planned races led by pacemakers who sacrifice their opportunity to win by leading the early laps at a fast pace before dropping out.
"The person who wins the race is behind watching"
Continental records
| Area | Men | Women | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time (s) | Athlete | Nation | Time (s) | Athlete | Nation | |
| Africa (records) | 3:26.00 WR | Hicham El Guerrouj | Morocco | 3:50.07 WR | Genzebe Dibaba | Ethiopia |
| Asia (records) | 3:29.14 | Rashid Ramzi |  Bahrain | 3:50.46 | Yunxia Qu |  China |
| Europe (records) | 3:28.68 | Jakob Ingebrigtsen |  Norway | 3:51.95 | Sifan Hassan | Netherlands |
| North, Central America and Caribbean (records) | 3:29.30 | Bernard Lagat |  United States | 3:54.99 | Shelby Houlihan | United States |
| Oceania (records) | 3:29.66 | Nick Willis |  New Zealand | 4:00.42 | Jessica Hull | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Australia |
| South America (records) | 3:33.25 | Hudson de Souza |  Brazil | 4:05.67 | Letitia Vriesde |  Suriname |
All-time top 25
Men
- Correct as of August 2020.[7]
Notes
Below is a list of other times superior to 3:29.26:
- Hicham El Guerrouj also ran 3:26.12 (2001), 3:26:45 (1998), 3:26.89 (2002), 3:26:96 (2002), 3:27.21 (2000), 3:27:34 (2002), 3:27.64 (2004) and 3:27.65 (1999).
- Bernard Lagat also ran 3:27.40 (2004) and 3:27.91 (2002).
- Noureddine Morceli also ran 3:27.52 (1995).
- Timothy Cheruiyot also ran 3:28.45 (2020) and 3:29.26 (2019).
- Noah Ngeny also ran 3:28.73 (1999).
- Mo Farah also ran 3:28.93 (2015).
Women
- Correct as of October 2019.[18]
| Rank | Res. | Athlete | Nation | Date | Place | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3:50.07 | Genzebe Dibaba | Ethiopia | 17 July 2015 | Monaco | [19] |
| 2 | 3:50.46 | Yunxia Qu | China | 11 September 1993 | Beijing | |
| 3 | 3:50.98 | Bo Jiang | China | 18 October 1997 | Shanghai | |
| 4 | 3:51.34 | Yinglai Lang | China | 18 October 1997 | Shanghai | |
| 5 | 3:51.92 | Junxia Wang | China | 11 September 1993 | Beijing | |
| 6 | 3:51.95 | Sifan Hassan | Netherlands |
5 October 2019 | Doha | [20] |
| 7 | 3:52.47 | Tatyana Kazankina |  Soviet Union | 13 August 1980 | Zürich | |
| 8 | 3:53.91 | Lili Yin | China | 18 October 1997 | Shanghai | |
| 9 | 3:53.96 | Paula Ivan | Romania | 1 October 1988 | Seoul | |
| 10 | 3:53.97 | Lixin Lan | China | 18 October 1997 | Shanghai | |
| 11 | 3:54.22 | Faith Kipyegon | Kenya |
5 October 2019 | Doha | [20] |
| 12 | 3:54.23 | Olga Dvirna | Soviet Union | 27 July 1982 | Kyiv | |
| 13 | 3:54.38 | Gudaf Tsegay | Ethiopia |
5 October 2019 | Doha | [20] |
| 14 | 3:54.52 | Zhang Ling | China | 18 October 1997 | Shanghai | |
| 15 | 3:54.99 | Shelby Houlihan | United States |
5 October 2019 | Doha | [20] |
| 16 | 3:55.07 | Yanmei Dong | China | 18 October 1997 | Shanghai | |
| 17 | 3:55.22 | Laura Muir |  United Kingdom |
27 August 2016 | Saint-Denis | [21] |
| 18 | 3:55.30 | Hassiba Boulmerka |  Algeria | 8 August 1992 | Barcelona | |
| 19 | 3:55.33 | Sureyya Ayhan |  Turkey | 5 September 2003 | Brussels | |
| 20 | 3:55.68 | Yuliya Fomenko |  Russia | 8 July 2006 | Paris | |
| 21 | 3:56.12 | Gabriela DeBues-Stafford | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Canada |
5 October 2019 | Doha | [22] |
| 22 | 3:56.14 | Zamira Zaitseva | Soviet Union | 27 July 1982 | Kyiv | |
| 23 | 3:56.18 | Maryam Yusuf Jamal | Bahrain | 27 August 2006 | Rieti | |
| 24 | 3:56.29 | Shannon Rowbury | United States | 17 July 2015 | Monaco | [19] |
| 25 | 3:56.31 | Dong Liu | China | 17 October 1997 | Shanghai |
Notes
Below is a list of other times superior to 3:55.93:
- Genzebe Dibaba also ran 3:54.11 (2015), 3:55.17i (2014) and 3:55.47 (2019).
- Tatyana Kazankina also ran 3:55.0h (1980).
- Lixin Lan also ran 3:55.01 (1997).
- Yunxia Qu also ran 3:55.38 (1997).
- Zhang Ling also ran 3:55.47 (1997).
- Laura Muir also ran 3:55.76 (2019).
- Sifan Hassan also ran 3:55.30+ (2019), 3:55.93 (2019).
Non-legal
The following athlete had their performance (superior to 3:56.31) annulled due to a doping violation:
- Mariem Selsouli (Morocco) 3:56.15 (2012)
Olympic medalists
Men
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Women
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World Championship medalists
Men
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Women
European Championship medalists
Men
Women
World Indoor Championships medalists
Men
Women
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- A Known as the World Indoor Games
Season's bests
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- "i" indicates performance on 200m indoor track
Other sports
1,500 metres is also an event in swimming and speed skating. The world records for the distance in swimming for men are 14:31.02 (swum in a 50-metre pool) by Sun Yang, 14:08.06 (swum in a 25-metre pool) by Gregorio Paltrinieri; and by women 15:25.48 (swum in a 50-metre pool)[26] by Katie Ledecky, and 15:19.71 (swum in a 25-metre pool) by Mireia Belmonte García.
The world records for the distance in speed skating are 1:40.17 by Kjeld Nuis and 1:49.83 by Miho Takagi.
Notes and references
- 1500 m - Introduction. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-02-07.
- "IAAF: 100 Metres - men - senior - outdoor - 2018 - iaaf.org". iaaf.org.
- "Scandal as controversial Chinese athlete Wang Junxia enters IAAF Hall of Fame". The Daily Telegraph. London. 9 March 2012.
- "Athletics world records blow as Wang Junxia 'admits' being part of Chinese state-sponsored doping regime". Retrieved 2016-08-13.
- McCune R. R. (2011-07-11). Verzbicas Breaks Four. Lets Run. Retrieved on 2012-02-07.
- "Bayi's record may be gone but it should never be forgotten". HeraldScotland.
- "All-time men's best 1500m". alltime-athletics.com. 26 July 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- "1500m Results" (PDF). sportresult.com. 17 July 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
- Mike Rowbottom (18 July 2014). "Kiplagat shows his class with 3:27.64 in Monaco - IAAF Diamond League". IAAF. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
- "1500m Results" (PDF). sportresult.com. 20 July 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- Nicole Jeffery (14 August 2020). "Cheptegei breaks world 5000m record in Monaco as Diamond League action returns". World Athletics. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
- "1500m Results" (PDF). sportresult.com. 17 July 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
- "1500m Results" (PDF). sportresult.com. 21 July 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
- Mike Rowbottom (19 July 2013). "Seven world leads on magical night in Monaco – IAAF Diamond League". IAAF. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
- "IAAF Diamond League - 1500m Results". www.diamondleague-monaco.com. 18 July 2014. Archived from the original on 21 July 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
- "1500m Results". IAAF. 14 June 2009. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
- Nicole Jeffery (14 August 2020). "Cheptegei breaks world 5000m record in Monaco as Diamond League action returns". World Athletics. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
- All time Women's 1500 metres. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-02-07.
- "IAAF Diamond League Monaco - 1500m Results" (PDF). sportresult.com. 17 July 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
- "1500m Women − Final − Results" (PDF). IAAF. 5 October 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
- "1500m Results" (PDF). sportresult.com. 27 August 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 November 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- "1500m Women − Final − Results" (PDF). IAAF. 5 October 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
- On 17 August 2015, the Court of Arbitration for Sport says it approved a settlement agreed to by Turkish athlete Aslı Çakır Alptekin and the IAAF. Alptekin has agreed to forfeit her 1500 metres Olympic title and serve an eight-year ban for blood doping.12 On 29 March 2017, Turkish athlete Gamze Bulut was banned for doping and lost her Olympic silver medal. Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain was advanced to gold, the silver medal was awarded to Tatyana Tomashova of Russia, and the bronze medal was awarded to Abeba Aregawi of Ethiopia. Tomashova was earlier found guilty of doping and missed the 2008 Olympics because of that, and was banned after the Olympics for failing another drug test.3
- Mariem Alaoui Selsouli was banned from The Olympic games 2012 in London after testing positive for the diuretic furosemide, following her competition in Diamond League July 6, 2012 in Paris-Saint-Denis, with the result 3:56.15 min.
- Mulvenney, Nick (25 July 2012). "UPDATE 1-Olympics-Athletics-Moroccan Selsouli tests positive". Reuters.
- "Katie Ledecky Chops 2 Seconds Off 1500 Free World Record at 2015 FINA World Championships". swimmingworldmagazine.com. 4 August 2015.
External links
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