Athletics at the 1900 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metres
The men's 1500 metres was a middle-distance running event on the athletics programme at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. It was held on July 15, 1900. The race was held on a track of 500 metres in circumference. Nine athletes from six nations competed.[1] The event was won by Charles Bennett of Great Britain, the nation's first medal in the brief history of the event.
| Men's 1500 metres at the Games of the II Olympiad | ||||||||||
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_bat_Henri_Deloge_(Racing-club_de_France).jpg.webp) Finish of the race | ||||||||||
| Venue | Bois de Boulogne | |||||||||
| Date | July 15 | |||||||||
| Competitors | 9 from 6 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 4:06.2 WR | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Athletics at the 1900 Summer Olympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Track events | |
| 60 m | men |
| 100 m | men |
| 200 m | men |
| 400 m | men |
| 800 m | men |
| 1500 m | men |
| 110 m hurdles | men |
| 200 m hurdles | men |
| 400 m hurdles | men |
| 2500 m steeplechase | men |
| 4000 m steeplechase | men |
| 5000 m team race | men |
| Road events | |
| Marathon | men |
| Field events | |
| Long jump | men |
| Triple jump | men |
| High jump | men |
| Pole vault | men |
| Standing long jump | men |
| Standing triple jump | men |
| Standing high jump | men |
| Shot put | men |
| Discus throw | men |
| Hammer throw | men |
Background
This was the second appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the runners from 1896 returned. John Bray of the United States was the unofficial world record holder, but the field was otherwise undistinguished. John Cregan, Alexander Grant, and George Orton were among the top runners at the distance and competed in the 1900 Games in other events, but did not run the 1500 metres (possibly due to the event being held on a Sunday.)[2]
Austria, Bohemia, Denmark, and Great Britain made their first appearance in the event. France and the United States were the only two countries to have previously competed in 1896 and return in 1900.
Competition format
The competition consisted of a single round, with one three-lap race around the 500-metre stadium.[2]
Records
These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1900 Summer Olympics.
| World record |  John Bray (USA) | 4:09.0 (u) | Bayonne, France | 30 May 1900 |
| Olympic record | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Edwin Flack (AUS) | 4:33.2 | Athens, Greece | 7 April 1896 |
Charles Bennett set a new Olympic record and a new unofficial world record at 4:06.2.
Schedule
| Date | Time | Round |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday, 15 July 1900 | 15:30 | Final |
Results
Bennett, who had led the entire distance by a small margin over Deloge, broke off in the final lap, and ran last 500 metres in a time of 1:10.2 to set an unofficial world record, finishing five yards ahead of Deloge. John Bray edged out David Hall by two yards.
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Charles Bennett |  Great Britain | 4:06.2 | WR |
 | Henri Deloge |  France | 4:06.6 | |
 | John Bray | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} United States | 4:07.2 | |
| 4 | David Hall | United States | 4:07.5 | |
| 5 | Christian Christensen |  Denmark | Unknown | |
| 6 | Hermann Wraschtil |  Austria | Unknown | |
| 7–9 | Ondřej Pukl |  Bohemia | Unknown | |
| John Rimmer | Great Britain | Unknown | ||
| Louis Segondi | France | Unknown |
References
- "Athletics at the 1900 Paris Games: Men's 1500 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- "1500 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
Sources
- International Olympic Committee.
- De Wael, Herman. Herman's Full Olympians: "Athletics 1900". Accessed 18 March 2006. Available electronically at .
- Mallon, Bill (1998). The 1900 Olympic Games, Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 0-7864-0378-0.