Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metres
| Men's 1500 metres at the Games of the I Olympiad | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Panathinaiko Stadium | |||||||||
| Dates | April 7 | |||||||||
| Competitors | 8 from 5 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 4:33.2 OR | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
1900 → | ||||||||||
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The men's 1500 metres race, the longest flat-track race of the 1896 Summer Olympics programme, was the last event on 7 April. It was run in a single heat, with eight athletes competing.[1]
Summary
Albin Lermusiaux of France led for most of the race, but was caught by Edwin Flack and Arthur Blake 100 meters from the finish.
Flack pulled away to beat Blake by five meters, becoming the first Australian Olympic champion, with Lermusiaux finishing third, a further 15 meters back.
The four Greek athletes trailed the other four athletes, though records do not indicate which position the last two finished in.
Background
This was the first appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Albin Lermusiaux of France had held the unofficial world record for two weeks in 1895; the two men who had broken his record since then were not present in Athens. Arthur Blake of the United States and Edwin Flack of Australia were also significant distance runners competing.[2]
Competition format
The competition consisted of a single round.[2][3]
The track was 330 metres in circumference, unlike modern tracks, which are 400 metres: as such, the race 15 meters longer than 41⁄2 laps. The track had very sharp turns and was made of loose cinders, making running difficult. Runners also turned clockwise, rather than the current counterclockwise turns.[2]
Records
| World record |  Thomas Conneff (USA) | 4:15.6 (u) | New York City, United States | 26 August 1895 |
| Olympic record | New event | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Edwin Flack set the initial Olympic record of 4:33.2 in the only race held.
Schedule
The precise times of the events are not recorded. The 1500 metres was the final event of the second day.[3]
| Date | Round | |
|---|---|---|
| Gregorian | Julian | |
| Tuesday, 7 April 1896 | Tuesday, 26 March 1896 | Final |
Results
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Edwin Flack |  Australia | 4:33.2 | OR |
 | Arthur Blake |  United States | 4:33.6 | |
 | Albin Lermusiaux |  France | 4:36.0 | |
| 4 | Carl Galle |  Germany | 4:39.0 | |
| 5 | Angelos Fetsis |  Greece | Unknown | |
| 6 | Dimitrios Golemis | Greece | Unknown | |
| 7–8 | Konstantinos Karakatsanis | Greece | Unknown | |
| Dimitrios Tomprof | Greece | Unknown |
References
- ^ "Athletics at the 1896 Athens Games: Men's 1500 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ a b c "1500 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
- ^ a b Official Report, pp. 71–72.
Notes
- Lampros, S.P.; Polites, N.G.; De Coubertin, Pierre; Philemon, P.J. & Anninos, C. (1897). The Olympic Games: BC 776 – AD 1896. Athens: Charles Beck. (Digitally available at la84foundation.org)
- Mallon, Bill & Widlund, Ture (1998). The 1896 Olympic Games. Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-0379-0. (Excerpt available at la84foundation.org)
- Smith, Michael Llewellyn (2004). Olympics in Athens 1896. The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games. London: Profile Books. ISBN 978-1-86197-342-9.
