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

Men's 1500 metres at the Games of the VIII Olympiad
Venue	Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir
Dates	July 9 (semifinals) July 10 (final)
Competitors	40 from 22 nations
Winning time	3:53.6 OR
Medalists
Paavo Nurmi  Finland Willy Schärer  Switzerland H. B. Stallard  Great Britain

The men's 1500 metres event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Wednesday, July 9, 1924, and on Thursday, July 10, 1924. As for all other races the track was 500 metres in circumference. Forty middle distance runners from 22 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation was 4.

The event was won by Paavo Nurmi of Finland, the first of his 5 gold medals in 1924. He had previously won 3 gold medals and a silver in 1920 in longer distances and would go on to win another gold and 2 more silvers in 1928; this event would be the shortest distance at which Nurmi won a medal. He would race again in the 5000 metres less than an hour later. Nurmi's victory was Finland's first in the men's 1500 metres. Switzerland also earned its first 1500 metres medal with Willy Schärer's silver. The United States missed the podium for the first time, having taken at least bronze in each of the prior six editions of the event. H. B. Stallard's bronze gave Great Britain a medal in each of its five appearances, though the nation had not competed in the event in 1896 or 1904.

Background

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.

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.

Competition format

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.

Records

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.

Schedule

Date	Time	Round
Wednesday, 9 July 1924	16:00	Semifinals
Thursday, 10 July 1924	14:45	Final

Results

Semifinals

All semifinals were held on Wednesday, July 9, 1924.

The best two finishers of every heat qualified for the final.

Semifinal 1

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	René Wiriath	France	4:13.8	Q
2	Jaakko Luoma	Finland	4:14.8	Q
3	Ferdinand Friebe	Austria	4:15.8
4	Mohamed El-Sayed	Egypt	Unknown
5	István Grósz	Hungary	Unknown

Semifinal 2

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Willy Schärer	Switzerland	4:06.6	Q
2	Douglas Lowe	Great Britain	4:07.2	Q
3	William Spencer	United States	4:08.4
4	Léon Fourneau	Belgium	Unknown
5	Pala Singh	India	Unknown
—	Clifford Davis	South Africa	DNF

Semifinal 3

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Paavo Nurmi	Finland	4:07.6	Q
2	Sonny Spencer	Great Britain	4:09.0	Q
3	Albert Larsen	Denmark	4:11.5
4	René Jubeau	France	4:14.5
5	Aleksander Antson	Estonia	Unknown
6	Ferruccio Bruni	Italy	Unknown
7	Daniel Eslava	Mexico	Unknown
8	Józef Jaworski	Poland	4:28.4

Semifinal 4

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Arvo Peussa	Finland	4:17.4	Q
2	Ray Watson	United States	4:17.9	Q
3	Disma Ferrario	Italy	4:18.5
4	Jan Zeegers	Netherlands	4:21.0
5	Jack Newman	Australia	Unknown
6	Joseph Van der Wee	Belgium	Unknown
7	Stefan Kostrzewski	Poland	4:29.0

Semifinal 5

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	H. B. Stallard	Great Britain	4:11.8	Q
2	Ray Buker	United States	4:12.8	Q
3	Rolph Barnes	Canada	4:13.1
4	Louis Philipps	France	4:13.4
5	Angelo Davoli	Italy	Unknown
6	Lyuben Karastoyanov	Bulgaria	Unknown

Semifinal 6

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Lloyd Hahn	United States	4:06.8	Q
2	Frej Liewendahl	Finland	4:07.4	Q
3	Cyril Ellis	Great Britain	4:08.1
4	Robert Chottin	France	4:14.8
5	Malcolm Boyd	Australia	Unknown
6	Vilém Šindler	Czechoslovakia	4:23.6
7	Ömer Besim Koşalay	Turkey	Unknown
—	Giovanni Garaventa	Italy	DNF

Final

The final was held on Thursday, July 10, 1924.

Less than 45 minutes after his win in this race Nurmi started in the 5000 metre event and also won that gold medal.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Paavo Nurmi	Finland	3:53.6	OR
2	Willy Schärer	Switzerland	3:55.0
3	H. B. Stallard	Great Britain	3:55.6
4	Douglas Lowe	Great Britain	3:57.0
5	Ray Buker	United States	3:58.6
6	Lloyd Hahn	United States	3:59.0
7	Ray Watson	United States	4:00.0
8	Frej Liewendahl	Finland	4:00.3
9	Arvo Peussa	Finland	4:00.6
10	René Wiriath	France	4:02.8
11	Sonny Spencer	Great Britain	4:03.7
12	Jaakko Luoma	Finland	4:03.9

External links

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