1908 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 1500 m (men)
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sport | athletics |
discipline | 1500 meter run |
gender | Men |
place | White City Stadium |
Attendees | 44 athletes from 15 countries |
Competition phase | 13./14. July 1908 |
Medalist | |
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Mel Sheppard ( USA )
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Harold Wilson ( GBR )
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Norman Hallows ( GBR )
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The 1,500-meter race of the men at the 1908 Olympic Games in London on July 14, 1908 in White City Stadium decided. The day before, the finalists were determined in eight preliminary runs.
The American Mel Sheppard became Olympic champion . Silver went to the Briton Harold Wilson , bronze went to his compatriot Norman Hallows .
Records
The existing world record was still unofficial at the time.
World record | 3: 59.8 min |
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Harold Wilson | London ( Great Britain ), May 30, 1908 |
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Olympic record | 4: 05.4 min |
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James Lightbody | St. Louis Finale ( USA ), September 3, 1904 |
The following records were broken or set in this discipline at the 1908 Olympic Games:
OR | 4: 05.0 min |
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Mel Sheppard | 2. Forward |
OR | 4: 03.4 min |
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Norman Hallows | 3. Forward |
ORe | 4: 03.4 min |
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Mel Sheppard | Final run |
Results
Prelim (July 13th)
Only the respective race winners from the eight preliminary runs qualified for the final. This regulation had the consequence that the Italian Emilio Lunghi was eliminated with 4: 03.8 min. His time would have been enough for a medal in the final, but Lunghi was only second to Norman Hallows in his semifinals. After all, Lunghi received an honorary diploma for his performance and won the silver medal over 800 meters a week later .
The times given in brackets come from the literature by zur Megede mentioned below and are probably estimated.
1. Forward
space | athlete | country | Time (min) |
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1 | James Sullivan |
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4: 07.6 |
2 | James Lightbody |
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(4: 08.6) |
3 | Fred Meadows |
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(4: 12.2) |
4th | Francis Knott |
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k. A. |
5 | Joseph Smith |
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6th | Louis Bonniot de Fleurac |
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7th | Nils Dahl |
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8th | Ödön Bodor |
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9 | Jacques Keyser |
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Sullivan beat the two-time Olympic champion of 1904 by six yards . For Meadows another 14 yards are indicated, all other runners were far behind.
2. Forward
space | athlete | country | Time (min) |
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1 | Mel Sheppard |
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4: 05.0 OR |
2 | John Halstead |
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(4: 05.6) |
3 | George Butterfield |
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(4: 11.8) |
4th | John Lee |
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k. A. |
5 | Joseph Lynch |
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6th | Kjeld Nielsen |
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7th | Arno Hesse |
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Sheppard won his run just ahead of Halstead, who followed one yard behind. There were three yards between Butterfield and Lee, although they were more behind the Americans. The first name of the seven-man German Hesse is named in the literature mentioned below from zur Megede with Alfred.
3. Forward
space | athlete | country | Time (min) |
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1 | Norman Hallows |
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4: 03.4 OR |
2 | Emilio Lunghi |
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(4: 03.8) |
Massimo Cartasegna |
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DNF | |
Frank Riley |
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||
Evert Bjorn |
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Charles Swain |
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Lunghi followed closely on Hallows and also stayed below the previous Olympic record. All other runners gave up prematurely , according to Sports-Reference . At the Megede , Cartasegna, Riley and Björn are listed in places four to six without any time information. Swain is not listed in either Kluge or zur Megede .
4. Forward
space | athlete | country | Time (min) |
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1 | Ernest Loney |
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4: 08.4 |
2 | Harry Coe |
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(4: 09.2) |
3 | John McGough |
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(4: 16.4) |
4th | Stylianos Dimitriou |
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k. A. |
5 | Joseph Dreher |
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Only Coe could keep up with Loney and was two yards behind at the finish. For McGough it was already 30 yards, the other runners were even more clearly inferior.
5. Forward
space | athlete | country | Time (min) |
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1 | John Tait |
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4: 12.2 |
2 | József Nagy |
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(4: 19.6) |
3 | Fredrik Svanström |
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(4: 25.2) |
Gaston Ragueneau |
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DNF |
Tait won by 50 yards over Nagy despite a moderate time. The other runners followed even further behind. Ragueneau is ranked 4th at zur Megede .
6. Forward
space | athlete | country | Time (min) |
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1 | Joe Deakin |
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4: 13.6 |
2 | Andreas Breynk |
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(4: 30.0) |
3 | Aria Vosbergen |
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(4: 38.2) |
Despite moderate time, Deakin won with 75 and 200 yards ahead of his two competitors.
7. Forward
space | athlete | country | Time (min) |
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1 | Harold Wilson |
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4: 11.4 |
2 | Jean Bouin |
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(4: 17.0) |
3 | William Galbraith |
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(4: 20.2) |
Wilson won by 30 yards.
8. Forward
space | athlete | country | Time (min) |
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1 | Ivo Fairbairn-Crawford |
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4: 09.4 |
2 | Edward Dahl |
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(4: 10.4) |
3 | Hanns Braun |
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(4: 18.2) |
4th | Oscar Larsen |
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k. A. |
5 | François Delloye |
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6th | Axel Andersson |
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7th | John Fitzgerald |
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The winner was four yards ahead. There were 20 yards between the second and third.
Final (July 14th)
space | athlete | country | Time (min) |
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1 | Mel Sheppard |
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4: 03.4 ORe |
2 | Harold Wilson |
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4: 03.6 |
3 | Norman Hallows |
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4: 04.0 |
4th | John Tait |
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4: 06.8 |
5 | Ivo Fairbairn-Crawford |
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4: 07.6 |
6th | Joe Deakin |
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4; 07.9 |
James Sullivan |
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DNF | |
Ernest Loney |
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In uncomfortable weather conditions, Ivo Fairbairn-Crawford led the first 500 meters of the final, but he then fell back and came in fifth. A group of three, consisting of Harold Wilson, Norman Hallows and Mel Sheppard, took the lead. World record holder Wilson led until a few meters from the finish before Sheppard caught him with his final sprint. Hallows was also only slightly behind, but clearly prevailed over the second group of three. Mel Sheppard equalized the Olympic record set by Hallows in the semifinals and won his first gold medal of these games. Two Olympic victories were to follow later over 800 meters and in the Olympic relay.
The times given for the first three are consistent in the literature from zur Megede and Sports-Reference listed below . The performances of the fourth to sixth can be found at Sports-Reference . It is also noted there that the times from second place are estimated.
The Olympic runner-up Harold Wilson, world record holder from Great Britain
The three-time Olympic champion of 1904 James Lightbody was eliminated this time in the preliminary run
The German Hanns Braun, later Olympic knight over 800 meters - here in 1913 - had no chance in his preliminary run
literature
- Volker Kluge , Olympic Summer Games - The Chronicle I, Berlin 1997 ( ISBN 3-328-00715-6 )
- Ekkehard zur Megede , The history of Olympic athletics, Volume 1: 1896–1936, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970
Web links
- Sports-Reference, Athletics at the 1908 London Summer Games: Men's 1500 meters , English, accessed August 26, 2018
- Olympic Games London 1908, Athletics, 1500m men , IOC page on athletics at the 1908 Olympic Games at olympic.org, English, accessed 26 August 2018
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 1: 1896–1936, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970, p. 77