Athletics at the 1924 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metres

This was the seventh appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Ninth-place finisher Léon Fourneau of Belgium was the only finalist from the 1920 Games to return. Paavo Nurmi of Finland was dominant in both middle and long distances; he had broken the world record in the 1500 metres a few weeks before the Olympics.[2]

Bulgaria, Egypt, India, Mexico, Poland, and Switzerland each made their first appearance in the event. The United States made its seventh appearance, the only nation to have competed in the men's 1500 metres at each Games to that point.

The competition consisted of two rounds, the format used since 1908. The field was larger than in 1920, moving back towards more semifinals with fewer qualifiers from each. Six semifinals were held, with anywhere between 5 and 8 runners in each. The top two runners in each heat advanced to the final, for a 12-man final race.[2]

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1924 Summer Olympics.

World record	Paavo Nurmi (FIN)	3:52.6	Helsinki, Finland	19 June 1924
Olympic record	Arnold Jackson (GBR)	3:56.8	Stockholm, Sweden	10 July 1912

In the final Paavo Nurmi set a new Olympic record at 3:53.6.

• Olympic Report
• Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 7 October 2008.