Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metres

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Men's 1500 metres
at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
Olympic Athletics
VenueEstadio Olímpico Universitario, Mexico City
Date18 October 1968 to 20 October 1968
Competitors54 from 37 nations
Winning time3:34.91 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s)
Kip Keino
 Kenya
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Jim Ryun
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Bodo Tümmler
 West Germany
← 1964
1972 →
Official Video Highlights
Athletics at the
1968 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
800 mmenwomen
1500 mmen
5000 mmen
10,000 mmen
80 m hurdleswomen
110 m hurdlesmen
400 m hurdlesmen
3000 m
steeplechase		men
4 × 100 m relaymenwomen
4 × 400 m relaymen
Road events
Marathonmen
20 km walkmen
50 km walkmen
Field events
Long jumpmenwomen
Triple jumpmen
High jumpmenwomen
Pole vaultmen
Shot putmenwomen
Discus throwmenwomen
Javelin throwmenwomen
Hammer throwmen
Combined events
Pentathlonwomen
Decathlonmen

The

Kip Keino, who beat World record holder Jim Ryun, who struggled to adapt to the altitude of Mexico City.[2] It was the first medal for Kenya in the 1500 metres. Ryun's silver was the United States's first medal in the event since 1952. Bodo Tümmler
took bronze, the first medal for West Germany as a separate nation.

Summary

While this Olympics was the emergence of Kenyan runners, Kip Keino was not an unknown quantity, he had won the 1966 Commonwealth Games and 1965 African Championships. In the final, it was Ben Jipcho who took the first lap out fast, with Keino lagging to the back of the field. Keino moved up toward the front, but didn't take the lead until two laps to go. When he moved forward, he did so decisively, creating a 30-meter gap on the field. Ryun was known for his last lap kicks. He held back waiting for the bell. At the bell he took off in chase, but Bodo Tümmler was also intent on racing. Ryun was able to beat Tümmler down the backstretch but his last lap kick was no match for the still more than 20 meter lead Keino held onto the final straightaway.

Background

This was the 16th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Two finalists from 1964 returned: silver medalist

Kip Keino of Kenya had been beaten by Ryun by 4 seconds in a dual meet in July 1967 (the race where Ryun took the world record).[1]

Bermuda, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Morocco, Puerto Rico, and Senegal each made their first appearance in the event; West Germany made its first appearance as a separate nation. The United States made its 16th appearance, the only nation to have competed in the men's 1500 metres at each Games to that point.

Competition format

The competition was again three rounds (a format used previously in 1952 and 1964). The 1968 competition did not use the "fastest loser" system introduced in 1964, resulting in uneven semifinals. The competition also returned to a 12-man final, after two Games used 9 in 1960 and 1964.

There were five heats in the first round, each with 11 or 12 runners (before withdrawals). The top five runners in each heat advanced to the semifinals. The 25 semifinalists were divided into two semifinals, one of 12 runners and one of 13. The top six men in each semifinal advanced to the 12-man final.[1][3]

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1968 Summer Olympics.

World record  Jim Ryun (USA) 3:33.1 Los Angeles, United States 8 July 1967
Olympic record  Herb Elliott (AUS) 3:35.6 Rome, Italy 6 September 1960

In the final,

Kip Keino
set a new Olympic record at 3:34.91.

Schedule

All times are

UTC-6
)

Date Time Round
Friday, 18 October 1968 11:00 Round 1
Saturday, 19 October 1968 17:20 Semifinals
Sunday, 20 October 1968 15:30 Final

Results

Round 1

Top 5 in each heat advance to semifinal.

Heat 1

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1
Kip Keino
  Kenya 3:46.96 Q
2 Bodo Tümmler  West Germany 3:51.59 Q
3 John Boulter  Great Britain 3:51.63 Q
4 Jorge Grosser  Chile 3:51.79 Q
5 Franco Arese  Italy 3:51.86 Q
6
Dave Bailey
  Canada 3:52.11
7 Róbert Honti  Hungary 3:54.95
8 Rudolf Klaban  Austria 3:59.11
9 Julio Quevedo  Guatemala 4:03.13
10 Édouard Sagna  Senegal 4:04.12
11 Emilio Barahona  Honduras 4:56.08

Heat 2

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Tom Von Ruden  United States 3:59.15 Q
2 André Dehertoghe  Belgium 3:59.33 Q
3 Henryk Szordykowski  Poland 3:59.34 Q
4 Claude Nicolas  France 3:59.35 Q
5 Arnd Krüger  West Germany 3:59.40 Q
6 Renzo Finelli  Italy 3:59.51
7 Ove Berg  Sweden 4:00.42
8 Tom Hansen  Denmark 4:01.47
9 Ramasamy Subramaniam  Malaysia 4:06.49
10 Miguel Núñez  Dominican Republic 4:23.67
— Blagoi Kostov  Bulgaria DNS

Heat 3

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ben Jipcho  Kenya 3:46.51 Q
2 Oleg Rayko  Soviet Union 3:46.84 Q
3 Harald Norpoth  West Germany 3:47.00 Q
4 Josef Odložil  Czechoslovakia 3:47.49 Q
5 Jacky Boxberger  France 3:47.55 Q
6 José Neri  Mexico 3:47.88
7
Jorge González
  Spain 3:50.49
8 Ioannis Virvilis  Greece 3:55.57
9
Xaver Frick, Jr.
  Liechtenstein 4:15.38
10 Alfredo Cubías  El Salvador 4:32.58
— Jean Wadoux  France DNS

Heat 4

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jim Ryun  United States 3:45.80 Q
2 Hamadi Haddou  Morocco 3:47.01 Q
3 Edgard Salvé  Belgium 3:47.17 Q
4 Arne Kvalheim  Norway 3:47.50 Q
5 Norm Trerise  Canada 3:47.67 Q
6 Gianni Del Buono  Italy 3:48.41
7 Peter Watson  Australia 3:55.41
8 Maurice Benn  Great Britain 3:56.43
9 Pekka Vasala  Finland 4:08.51
10 Willie Ríos  Puerto Rico 4:14.47
11 Jeff Payne  Bermuda 4:18.92
— Guillermo Cuello  Argentina DNS

Heat 5

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Marty Liquori  United States 3:52.78 Q
2 Hansrüedi Knill  Switzerland 3:52.87 Q
3 John Whetton  Great Britain 3:53.04 Q
4 Ahmed Issa  Chad 3:53.13 Q
5
Mikhail Zhelobovsky
  Soviet Union 3:53.23 Q
6 Matias Habtemichael  Ethiopia 3:53.27
7 Anders Gärderud  Sweden 3:54.28
8 Byron Dyce  Jamaica 3:54.65
9 Jerzy Maluśki  Poland 3:54.83
10
Frank Murphy
  Ireland 3:54.85
11 Rudi Simon  Belgium 4:06.97
12 Arturo Córdoba  Honduras 5:18.92

Semifinals

Top six in each heat advance to final.

Semifinal 1

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Bodo Tümmler  West Germany 3:53.66 Q
2 Jacky Boxberger  France 3:54.00 Q
3 Tom Von Ruden  United States 3:54.12 Q
4 Henryk Szordykowski  Poland 3:54.24 Q
5 Harald Norpoth  West Germany 3:54.34 Q
6 Ben Jipcho  Kenya 3:54.69 Q
7 Franco Arese  Italy 3:54.85
8 Arne Kvalheim  Norway 3:55.32
9 John Boulter  Great Britain 3:56.13
10 Edgard Salvé  Belgium 3:58.16
11
Mikhail Zhelobovsky
  Soviet Union 3:59.08
12 Hamadi Haddou  Morocco 4:01.70

Semifinal 2

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jim Ryun  United States 3:51.25 Q
2
Kip Keino
  Kenya 3:51.50 Q
3 John Whetton  Great Britain 3:52.05 Q
4 Marty Liquori  United States 3:52.17 Q
5 Josef Odložil  Czechoslovakia 3:52.53 Q
6 André Dehertoghe  Belgium 3:52.57 Q
7 Oleg Rayko  Soviet Union 3:52.73
8 Ahmed Issa  Chad 3:53.26
9 Hansrüedi Knill  Switzerland 3:53.65
10 Norm Trerise  Canada 3:57.30
11 Claude Nicolas  France 4:04.47
12 Arnd Krüger  West Germany 4:05.40
— Jorge Grosser  Chile DNF

Final

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s)
Kip Keino
  Kenya 3:34.91 OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Jim Ryun  United States 3:37.89
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Bodo Tümmler  West Germany 3:39.08
4 Harald Norpoth  West Germany 3:42.57
5 John Whetton  Great Britain 3:43.90
6 Jacky Boxberger  France 3:46.65
7 Henryk Szordykowski  Poland 3:46.69
8 Josef Odložil  Czechoslovakia 3:48.69
9 Tom Von Ruden  United States 3:49.27
10 Ben Jipcho  Kenya 3:51.22
11 André Dehertoghe  Belgium 3:53.63
12 Marty Liquori  United States 4:18.22

References

  1. ^ a b c "1500 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  2. ^ "Athletics at the 1968 Mexico City Games: Men's 1500 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  3. ^ Official Report, vol. 3, p. 523.
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