Athletics at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metres

This was the 11th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the finalists from the pre-war 1936 Games returned. The 1500 metres landscape had shifted strongly towards Sweden during World War II; the nation had never won an Olympic medal in the sport before the war but was aiming for a sweep in 1948 despite Arne Andersson and Gunder Hägg being declared ineligible professionals. The team in London was Lennart Strand (1946 European champion, world list leader in 1947), Henry Eriksson (1946 European runner-up, second on world list in 1947), and Gösta Bergkvist (third on the world list in 1947).[1]

Iceland, Ireland, South Korea, and Trinidad and Tobago each made their first appearance in the event. The United States made its 11th 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 number of semifinals remained at four, with between 7 and 9 runners in each. The top three runners in each heat advanced to the final, resulting in the typical 12-man final race.[1][3]

These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1948 Summer Olympics.

World record	Gunder Hägg (SWE)	3:43.0	Gothenburg, Sweden	7 July 1944
Olympic record	Jack Lovelock (NZL)	3:47.8	Berlin, Germany	6 August 1936

No world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1).

• Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad, The (1948). The Official Report of the Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad. LA84 Foundation. Retrieved 4 September 2016.