Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metres
Men's 1500 metres at the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Athens Olympic Stadium | ||||||||||
Dates | 20–24 August | |||||||||
Competitors | 38 from 26 nations | |||||||||
Winning time | 3:34.19 | |||||||||
Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics | ||
---|---|---|
Track events | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
400 m | men | women |
800 m | men | women |
1500 m | men | women |
5000 m | men | women |
10,000 m | men | women |
100 m hurdles | women | |
110 m hurdles | men | |
400 m hurdles | men | women |
3000 m steeplechase | men | |
4 × 100 m relay | men | women |
4 × 400 m relay | men | women |
Road events | ||
Marathon | men | women |
20 km walk | men | women |
50 km walk | men | |
Field events | ||
Long jump | men | women |
Triple jump | men | women |
High jump | men | women |
Pole vault | men | women |
Shot put | men | women |
Discus throw | men | women |
Javelin throw | men | women |
Hammer throw | men | women |
Combined events | ||
Heptathlon | women | |
Decathlon | men | |
Wheelchair races | ||
The men's 1500 metres at the
Summary
World record holder
Off the line, the three Kenyan runners took the lead and formed a wall keeping the field behind as they slowed the pace; El Guerrouj could not run away from the start and the race would be strategic. With 500 metres to go, El Guerrouj worked his way to the front, with a line of kickers including Lagat,
Four days later, El Guerrouj outsprinted
Background
This was the 25th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Half of the finalists from 2000, including four of the top five but not the defending champion, returned: silver medalist Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco, bronze medalist Bernard Lagat of Kenya, fourth-place finisher Mehdi Baala of France, fifth-place finisher Kevin Sullivan of Canada, eighth-place finisher Juan Carlos Higuero of Spain, and twelfth-place finisher Youssef Baba of Morocco. El Guerrouj (who had stretched his world championship streak to four and still held the world record) and Lagat were the strongest contenders; Lagat and Baala had finished second to El Guerrouj at the last two world championships.[2]
Bahrain, Brunei, the Czech Republic, and Guam each made their first appearance in the event. The United States made its 24th appearance, most of all nations (having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games).
Qualification
The qualification period for athletics was 1 January 2003 to 9 August 2004. For the men's 1500 metres, each National Olympic Committee was permitted to enter up to three athletes that had run the race in 3:36.20 or faster during the qualification period. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. If an NOC had no athletes that qualified under that standard, one athlete that had run the race in 3:38.00 or faster could be entered.
Competition format
The competition was again three rounds (used previously in 1952 and since 1964). The "fastest loser" system introduced in 1964 was used for both the first round and semifinals. The 12-man semifinals and finals introduced in 1984 and used since 1992 were retained.
As in 2000, there were three heats in the first round, each with 13 or 14 runners (before withdrawals). There was a slight move towards "fastest losers" advancing, with only the top five runners in each heat, along with the next nine fastest overall, advancing to the semifinals. The 24 semifinalists were divided into two semifinals, each with 12 runners. The top five men in each semifinal, plus the next two fastest overall, advanced to the 12-man final.[2][5]
Records
Prior to the competition[update], the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.
World record | Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) | 3:26.00 | Rome, Italy | 14 July 1998 |
Olympic record | Noah Ngeny (KEN) | 3:32.07 | Sydney, Australia | 29 September 2000 |
No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition. The following national records were established during the competition:
Nation | Athlete | Round | Time |
---|---|---|---|
Equatorial Guinea | Roberto Mandje | Heat 1 | 4:03.37 |
Schedule
All times are
Date | Time | Round |
---|---|---|
Friday, 20 August 2004 | 19:40 | Round 1 |
Sunday, 22 August 2004 | 21:50 | Semifinals |
Tuesday, 24 August 2004 | 23:40 | Final |
Results
Round 1
Qualification rule: The first five finishers in each heat (Q) plus the next nine fastest overall runners (q) advanced to the semifinals.[6]
Heat 1
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Hicham El Guerrouj | Morocco | 3:37.86 | Q |
2 | Rui Silva |
Portugal | 3:37.98 | Q |
3 | Álvaro Fernández | Spain | 3:38.34 | Q |
4 | Kamal Boulahfane | Algeria | 3:38.59 | Q |
5 | Isaac Kiprono Songok | Kenya | 3:38.89 | Q |
6 | Kevin Sullivan |
Canada | 3:39.30 | q |
7 | Michal Šneberger | Czech Republic | 3:39.68 | q |
8 | James Nolan | Ireland | 3:41.14 | q |
9 | Wolfram Müller | Germany | 3:46.75 | |
10 | Mounir Yemmouni | France | 3:51.08 | |
11 | Grant Robison | United States | 3:53.66 | |
12 | Roberto Mandje | Equatorial Guinea | 4:03.37 | NR |
— | Peter Roko Ashak | Sudan | DNS |
Heat 2
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Reyes Estévez | Spain | 3:39.71 | Q |
2 | Bernard Lagat | Kenya | 3:39.80 | Q |
3 | Nick Willis | New Zealand | 3:39.80 | Q |
4 | Adil Kaouch | Morocco | 3:39.88 | Q |
5 | Mulugeta Wendimu | Ethiopia | 3:39.96 | Q |
6 | Gert-Jan Liefers | Netherlands | 3:40.10 | q |
7 | Hudson de Souza | Brazil | 3:40.78 | q |
8 | Johan Cronje | South Africa | 3:40.99 | q |
9 | Alan Webb | United States | 3:41.25 | |
10 | Aleksandr Krivchinkov | Russia | 3:41.37 | |
11 | Abdulrahman Suleiman | Qatar | 3:42.00 | |
12 | Mohamed Khaldi | Algeria | 3:42.47 | |
13 | Mehdi Baala | France | 3:46.06 |
Heat 3
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Michael East | Great Britain | 3:37.37 | Q |
2 | Timothy Kiptanui | Kenya | 3:37.71 | Q |
3 | Ivan Heshko | Ukraine | 3:37.78 | Q |
4 | Rashid Ramzi | Bahrain | 3:37.93 | Q |
5 | Tarek Boukensa | Algeria | 3:37.94 | Q |
6 | Juan Carlos Higuero | Spain | 3:38.36 | q |
7 | Youssef Baba | Morocco | 3:38.71 | q |
8 | Manuel Damião | Portugal | 3:39.94 | q |
9 | Charlie Gruber | United States | 3:41.73 | |
10 | Branko Zorko | Croatia | 3:48.28 | |
11 | Dou Zhaobo | China | 3:50.28 | |
12 | Neil Weare | Guam | 4:05.86 | |
13 | Jimmy Anak Ahar | Brunei | 4:14.11 | |
— | Samwel Mwera | Tanzania | DNS |
Semifinals
Qualification rule: The top five finishers in each heat (Q) plus the next two fastest overall runners (q) advanced to the final.[7]
Semifinal 1
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Adil Kaouch | Morocco | 3:35.69 | Q |
2 | Bernard Lagat | Kenya | 3:35.84 | Q |
3 | Gert-Jan Liefers | Netherlands | 3:36.00 | Q |
4 | Reyes Estévez | Spain | 3:36.05 | Q |
5 | Ivan Heshko | Ukraine | 3:36.20 | Q |
6 | Michael East | Great Britain | 3:36.46 | q |
7 | Isaac Kiprono Songok | Kenya | 3:37.10 | q |
8 | Manuel Damião | Portugal | 3:37.16 | |
9 | Hudson de Souza | Brazil | 3:38.83 | |
10 | James Nolan | Ireland | 3:42.61 | |
11 | Rashid Ramzi | Bahrain | 3:44.60 | |
— | Tarek Boukensa | Algeria | DNF |
Semifinal 2
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Hicham El Guerrouj | Morocco | 3:40.87 | Q |
2 | Rui Silva |
Portugal | 3:40.99 | Q |
3 | Timothy Kiptanui | Kenya | 3:41.04 | Q |
4 | Mulugeta Wendimu | Ethiopia | 3:41.14 | Q |
5 | Kamal Boulahfane | Algeria | 3:41.27 | Q |
6 | Nick Willis | New Zealand | 3:41.46 | |
7 | Álvaro Fernández | Spain | 3:42.01 | |
8 | Juan Carlos Higuero | Spain | 3:42.13 | |
9 | Kevin Sullivan |
Canada | 3:42.86 | |
10 | Youssef Baba | Morocco | 3:42.96 | |
11 | Johan Cronje | South Africa | 3:44.41 | |
12 | Michal Šneberger | Czech Republic | 3:47.03 |
Final
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time |
---|---|---|---|
Hicham El Guerrouj | Morocco | 3:34.19 | |
Bernard Lagat | Kenya | 3:34.30 | |
Rui Silva |
Portugal | 3:34.68 | |
4 | Timothy Kiptanui | Kenya | 3:35.61 |
5 | Ivan Heshko | Ukraine | 3:35.82 |
6 | Michael East | Great Britain | 3:36.33 |
7 | Reyes Estévez | Spain | 3:36.63 |
8 | Gert-Jan Liefers | Netherlands | 3:37.17 |
9 | Adil Kaouch | Morocco | 3:38.26 |
10 | Mulugeta Wendimu | Ethiopia | 3:38.33 |
11 | Kamal Boulahfane | Algeria | 3:39.02 |
12 | Isaac Kiprono Songok | Kenya | 3:41.72 |
References
- ^ "Athletics at the 2004 Athens Games: Men's 1500 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
- ^ a b c "1500 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
- ^ Steve Cram (24 August 2004). "El Guerrouj's golden salvation". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
- ^ McMullen, Paul (24 August 2004). "3rd time proves golden charm for El Guerrouj". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
- ^ Official Report, Results Book for Athletics.
- IAAF. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
- IAAF. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
- IAAF. Retrieved 12 October 2015.