1924 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 1500 m (men)

sport	athletics
discipline	1500 meter run
gender	Men
Attendees	40 athletes from 20 countries
Competition location	Stade de Colombes
Competition phase	July 9, 1924 (preliminary round) July 10, 1924 (final)
Medalist Paavo Nurmi ( FIN )   Willy Schärer ( SUI )   Henry Stallard ( GBR )

The men's 1,500-meter race at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris was held on July 9 and 10, 1924 in the Stade de Colombes . 40 athletes took part.

The Olympic champion was Paavo Nurmi from Finland, ahead of Willy Schärer from Switzerland . Bronze went to the Briton Henry Stallard .

A special feature of this race was that the stadium circuit in Colombes was 500 meters long.

Existing records

• World record : 3: 52.6 min - Paavo Nurmi ( Finland ), Helsinki , June 19, 1924
• Olympic record : 3: 56.8 min - Arnold Jackson ( Great Britain ), Stockholm final , July 10, 1912

Conducting the competition

The athletes competed in a total of six heats on July 9th. The two best runners in each case qualified for the final, which was contested on July 10th.

Note: The qualified athletes are highlighted in light blue.

Prelims

Date: July 9, 1924

Not all times have been passed down.

Forward 1

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	René Wiriath	France	4: 13.8 min
2	Jaakko Luoma	Finland	4: 14.8 min
3	Ferdinand Friebe	Austria	4: 15.8 min
4th	Mohamed El-Sayed	Egypt	k. A.
5	István Grósz	Hungary	k. A.

Forward 2

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Willy Schärer	Switzerland	4: 06.6 min
2	Douglas Lowe	Great Britain	4: 07.2 min
3	William Spencer	United States	4: 08.4 min
4th	Léon Fourneau	Belgium	k. A.
5	Clifford Davis	South African Union	k. A.
5	Pala Singh	British India	5: 02.5 min

Forward 3

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Paavo Nurmi	Finland	4: 07.6 min
2	Sonny Spencer	Great Britain	4: 09.0 min
3	Albert Larsen	Denmark	4: 11.5 min
4th	René Jubeau	France	4: 14.5 min
5	Aleksander Antson	Estonia	k. A.
6th	Ferruccio Bruni	Italy	k. A.
7th	Daniel Eslava	Mexico	k. A.
8th	Józef Jaworski	Poland	4: 28.4 min

Forward 4

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Arvo Peussa	Finland	4: 17.4 min
2	Ray Watson	United States	4: 17.9 min
3	Disma Ferrario	Italy	4: 18.5 min
4th	Jan Zeegers	Netherlands	4: 21.0 min
5	Jack Newman	Australia	k. A.
6th	Joseph Van Der Wee	Belgium	k. A.
7th	Stefan Kostrzewski	Poland	4: 29.0 min

Forward 5

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Henry Stallard	Great Britain	4: 11.8 min
2	Ray Buker	United States	4: 12.8 min
3	Rolph Barnes	Canada	4: 13.1 min
4th	Louis Philipps	France	4: 13.4 min
5	Lyuben Karastoyanov	Bulgaria	k. A.
6th	Angelo Davoli	Italy	k. A.

Forward 6

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Lloyd Hahn	United States	4: 06.8 min
2	Frej Liewendahl	Finland	4: 07.4 min
3	Cyril Ellis	Great Britain	4: 08.1 min
4th	Robert Chottin	France	4: 14.8 min
5	Malcolm Boyd	Australia	k. A.
6th	Giovanni Garaventa	Italy	k. A.
7th	Vilém Šindler	Luxembourg	4: 23.6 min
8th	Ömer Besim Koşalay	Turkey	k. A.

final

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Paavo Nurmi	Finland	3: 53.6 min	OR
2	Willy Schärer	Switzerland	3: 55.0 min
3	Henry Stallard	Great Britain	3: 55.6 min
4th	Douglas Lowe	Great Britain	3.57.0 min
5	Ray Buker	United States	3: 58.6 min
6th	Lloyd Hahn	United States	3: 59.0 min
7th	Ray Watson	United States	3: 59.9 min
8th	Frej Liewendahl	Finland	4:00, 3 min
9	Arvo Peussa	Finland	4: 00.6 min
10	René Wiriath	France	4: 02.8 min
11	Sonny Spencer	Great Britain	4: 03.7 min
12	Jaakko Luoma	Finland	4: 03.9 min

Date: July 10, 1924

The Finn Paavo Nurmi was the big favorite and not only wanted to win this race, but also the final of the 5000 meters , which took place just 26 minutes after the finish line . Other runners tried to avoid the duel with the world record holder. So Nurmi could easily win the preliminary run. He also won the final right from the start. He passed the 800 meter mark after 1: 58.8 minutes. Only US runner Ray Watson dared to follow Nurmi's pace. But after the second lap - after 1000 meters - Watson also fell back. Nurmi finished the race with some effort, but that should still be enough for a new Olympic record. The Swiss Willy Schärer crossed the finish line twelve meters behind him, also under the mark of the old Olympic record. The Briton Henry Stallard won bronze, although he suffered a fatigue fracture in his foot in his 800 meter run and was only able to complete the final with pain. Nevertheless, he also beat the old Olympic record.

Both Paavo Nurmi and Willy Schärer won the first medals for their countries in this discipline.
For Nurmi it was the fourth of nine gold medals in his career. Four more - 5000 meters, 3000-meter team run, individual cross-country run and team competition - should follow.

Picture gallery

• 

  Olympic champion Paavo Nurmi (FIN)

• 

  Henry Stallard (GBR), bronze medal winner

• 

  Douglas Lowe (GBR), 800 meter winner, finished fourth

literature

• Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 1: 1896-1936, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970, pp. 160f

Web links

• SportsReference 1500 m , accessed September 5, 2017

Video

• Paavo Nurmi 1924 Olympics, Paris 5 Gold Medals , published August 2, 2016 on youtube.com, accessed September 5, 2017

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 1: 1896–1936, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970, p. 161
2. ↑ Official report, pages 112 - 114 (French) ( Memento of the original from April 10, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ SportsReference (Eng.)