Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metres

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Men's 1500 metres
at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad
Gold medalist Jakob Ingebrigtsen (shown at 2018 European Championship)
VenueJapan National Stadium
Dates3 August 2021
(round 1)
5 August 2021
(semifinals)
7 August 2021
(final)
Competitors47 from 27 nations
Winning time3:28.32 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Jakob Ingebrigtsen  Norway
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Timothy Cheruiyot  Kenya
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Josh Kerr  
2024
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Official Video Highlights

The men's 1500 metres event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place between 3 and 7 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium.[1] Approximately fifty athletes were expected to compete; the exact number depended on how many nations used universality places to enter athletes in addition to the 45 qualifying through time or ranking (1 universality place was used in 2016).[2] 47 competitors from 27 nations competed. Jakob Ingebrigtsen set a new Olympic record on his way to the gold medal, Norway's first medal in the men's 1500 metres. Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya took silver, returning that nation to the podium for the first time since a four-Games medal streak ended in 2008. Josh Kerr earned bronze, Great Britain's first medal in the event since 1988.

Summary

Since 2018, Timothy Cheruiyot has been on top of the world leader board. A step behind him, both in the leader board and in major races was the name Ingebrigtsen, first Filip Ingebrigtsen in 2018, then replaced by his younger brother Jakob Ingebrigtsen still more than a month shy of his 21st birthday at these Olympics. Cheruiyot won the 2019 World Championships by breaking away to a 2 second victory in an exceptionally fast race. 2019 was in sharp contrast to the slow, strategic race in Rio, won by Matthew Centrowitz more than 20 seconds slower. Centrowitz was back to defend his title, but was eliminated in the semi-final round along with defending bronze medalist Nick Willis and World Championship bronze medalist Marcin Lewandowski. Olympic silver medalist Taoufik Makhloufi was injured before he could race in Tokyo.

After the runners sorted themselves out at the start of the final, Jakob, the only Ingebrigtsen in the race, moved around the pack to take the lead and press the pace. Cheruiyot moved himself up from mid pack to mark Ingebrigtsen. The first lap was completed in 56.2. Then Cheruiyot moved to the front to press the pace further. The race was in a single file line, Stewart McSweyn and Ollie Hoare next in line, Abel Kipsang on the outside trying to get past the two Australians. Second lap 1:51.8, a 55.6 by Cheruiyot. Hoare began moving backward, Jake Wightman came forward to race Kipsang. A gap formed between the lead group of Cheruiyot, Ingebrigtsen and McSweyn, with Kipsang leading the line of chasers. Through the penultimate turn, McSweyn couldn't keep up and the leaders were two. Lap 3 2:47.3, a 55.5. Ingebrigtsen glued to the back of Cheruiyot. Josh Kerr chasing Kipsang for bronze. Through the final turn, Ingebrigtsen moved up on Cheruiyot, then past. Cheruiyot looked back to see who else was going to try to pass him, an obvious sign he had nothing more to offer to chase Ingebrigtsen. Ingebrigtsen opened up a four metre gap before crossing the finish line. Kerr got past Kipsang and chased Cheruiyot to the finish, leaning at the line still didn't quite snatch silver.[3]

Ingebrigtsen's 3:28.32 new Olympic record beat the record set by Kipsang in the semi-finals of 3:31.65, as well as Noah Ngeny's Olympic record from 2000 by 3.75 seconds. Ngeny's final lap, 55.4.[4]

In a much publicized act of sportsmanship Cheruiyot gave a bracelet to Ingebrigtsen along with a congratulatory embrace; Cheruiyot had previously defeated Ingebrigtsen in 10 of their previous meetings over 1500m.[5]

Background

This was the 29th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics.

For the first time in Olympic history, no nations made their men's 1500 metres debut this Games. The United States made its 28th appearance, most of all nations (having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games).

Qualification

A

IAAF World Rankings pathway." The world rankings, based on the average of the best five results for the athlete over the qualifying period and weighted by the importance of the meet, will then be used to qualify athletes until the cap of 45 is reached.[2][6]

The qualifying period was originally from 1 May 2019 to 29 June 2020. Due to the

IAAF. Both indoor and outdoor meets are eligible. The most recent Area Championships may be counted in the ranking, even if not during the qualifying period.[2][7]

NOCs can also use their universality place—each NOC can enter one male athlete regardless of time if they had no male athletes meeting the entry standard for an athletics event—in the 1500 metres.[2]

Entry number: 45.

Qualification standard No. of athletes NOC Nominated athletes
Entry standard – 3:35.00 3  Australia Jye Edwards
Ollie Hoare
Stewart McSweyn
3  Ethiopia Samuel Abate
Teddese Lemi
Samuel Tefera
3  France Azeddine Habz
Alexis Miellet
Baptiste Mischler
3  Great Britain Jake Heyward
Josh Kerr
Jake Wightman
3  Kenya Timothy Cheruiyot
Abel Kipsang
Charles Simotwo
3  Morocco Soufiane El Bakkali
Anass Essayi
Abdelatif Sadiki
2  United States Matthew Centrowitz
Yared Nuguse
2  Spain Ignacio Fontes
Adel Mechaal
2  Norway Filip Ingebrigtsen
Jakob Ingebrigtsen
2  Poland Marcin Lewandowski
Michał Rozmys
2  Qatar
Adam Ali Musab
1  Algeria Taoufik Makhloufi
1  Bahrain Sadik Mikhou
1  Belgium Ismael Debjani
1  Djibouti Ayanleh Souleiman
1  Germany Robert Farken
1  New Zealand Sam Tanner
1  Sweden Kalle Berglund
1  Uganda Ronald Musagala
World ranking 1  Brazil Thiago André
1  Germany Amos Bartelsmeyer
1  Hungary István Szögi
1  Ireland Andrew Coscoran
1  Luxembourg Charles Grethen
1  New Zealand Nick Willis
1  Spain
Jesús Gómez
1  United States Cole Hocker
Universality Places 1  Equatorial Guinea Benjamín Enzema
Invitational Places 1  
Refugee Olympic Team
Paulo Amotun Lokoro
Total 45

Competition format

The event continued to use the three-round format used previously in 1952 and since 1964.[8] There were 3 heats, with the top 6 in each heat and next 6 overall advancing to the semifinals (an additional 2 athletes advanced by ruling after being obstructed). There were 2 semifinals, with the top 5 in each semifinal and next 2 overall advancing (another obstruction ruling provided a 13th qualifier for the final).

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world, Olympic, and area 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
Area
Time Athlete Nation
Africa (records) 3:26.00 WR Hicham El Guerrouj  Morocco
Asia (records) 3:29.14 Rashid Ramzi  Bahrain
Europe (records) 3:28.68 Jakob Ingebrigtsen  Norway
North, Central American
and Caribbean
(records)
3:29.30 Bernard Lagat  United States
Oceania (records) 3:29.66 Nick Willis  New Zealand
South America (records
)
3:33.25 Hudson de Souza  Brazil

The following records were established during the competition:

Country Athlete Round Time Notes
East Timor Felisberto de Deus Heats 3:51.03 NR
Luxembourg Charles Grethen Semifinals 3:32.86 NR
Kenya Abel Kipsang Semifinals 3:31.65 OR
Norway Jakob Ingebrigtsen Final 3:28.32 NR, OR, ER

Schedule

All times are

UTC+9
)

The men's 1500 metres took place over three separate days.[1]

Date Time Round
Tuesday, 3 August 2021 9:00 Round 1
Thursday, 5 August 2021 19:00 Semifinals
Saturday, 7 August 2021 18:50 Final

Results

Heats

Qualification Rules: First 6 in each heat (Q) and the next 6 fastest (q) advance to the semifinals

Heat 1

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ismael Debjani  Belgium 3:36.00 Q
2 Timothy Cheruiyot  Kenya 3:36.01 Q
3 Ollie Hoare  Australia 3:36.09 Q
4 Cole Hocker  United States 3:36.16 Q
5 Abdelatif Sadiki  Morocco 3:36.23 Q
6 Michał Rozmys  Poland 3:36.28 Q
7 Josh Kerr  Great Britain 3:36.29 q
8 Ignacio Fontes  Spain 3:36.95 q
9 Samuel Tefera  Ethiopia 3:37.98
10 Filip Ingebrigtsen  Norway 3:38.02
11 Amos Bartelsmeyer  Germany 3:38.36
12 István Szögi  Hungary 3:38.79
13 Abraham Guem  South Sudan 3:40.86 PB
14 Alexis Miellet  France 3:41.23
15
Adam Ali Musab
 Qatar 3:42.55
16 Felisberto de Deus  East Timor 3:51.03 NR

Heat 2

Marcin Lewandowski was pushed and fell, but got up again and finished his heat in last place. On appeal, he progressed to the semi-final.[9] Original 8th place finisher Sadik Mikhou was later disqualified on the 8th of August for blood doping after an out of competition test produced an abnormal result.[10]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Abel Kipsang  Kenya 3:40.68 Q
2 Matthew Centrowitz  United States 3:41.12 Q
3 Jake Wightman  Great Britain 3:41.18 Q
4 Azeddine Habz  France 3:41.24 Q
5 Samuel Abate  Ethiopia 3:41.63 Q
6 Charles Grethen  Luxembourg 3:41.90 Q
7 Jye Edwards  Australia 3:42.62
Sadik Mikhou  Bahrain 3:42.87 DSQ
8 Sam Tanner  New Zealand 3:43.22
9 Ali Idow Hassan  Somalia 3:43.96 PB
10 Anass Essayi  Morocco 3:45.92
11 Jesús Gómez  Spain 3:47.27 qR
12 Thiago André  Brazil 3:47.71
13 Benjamín Enzema  Equatorial Guinea 3:48.17
14 Marcin Lewandowski  Poland 4:43.96 qR
Abdirahman Saeed Hassan  Qatar DNF

Heat 3

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jake Heyward  Great Britain 3:36.14 Q
2 Teddese Lemi  Ethiopia 3:36.26 Q
3 Stewart McSweyn  Australia 3:36.39 Q
4 Jakob Ingebrigtsen  Norway 3:36.49 Q
5 Robert Farken  Germany 3:36.61 Q
6 Adel Mechaal  Spain 3:36.74 Q, SB
7 Nick Willis  New Zealand 3:36.88 q, SB
8 Andrew Coscoran  Ireland 3:37.11 q
9 Ayanleh Souleiman  Djibouti 3:37.25 q, SB
10 Charles Simotwo  Kenya 3:37.26 q
11 Baptiste Mischler  France 3:37.53
12 Kalle Berglund  Sweden 3:49.43
13 Paulo Amotun Lokoro  
Refugee Olympic Team
3:51.78 SB
Soufiane El Bakkali  Morocco DNF
Ronald Musagala  Uganda DNF
Yared Nuguse  United States DNS

Semifinals

Qualification Rules: First 5 in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) advance to the Final

Source:[11]

Semifinal 1

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jake Wightman  Great Britain 3:33.48 Q, SB
2 Cole Hocker  United States 3:33.87 Q, PB
3 Timothy Cheruiyot  Kenya 3:33.95 Q
4 Ollie Hoare  Australia 3:34.35 Q
5 Ignacio Fontes  Spain 3:34.49 Q
6 Charles Simotwo  Kenya 3:34.61
7 Teddese Lemi  Ethiopia 3:34.81
8 Robert Farken  Germany 3:35.21
9 Nick Willis  New Zealand 3:35.41 SB
10 Andrew Coscoran  Ireland 3:35.84
11 Ismael Debjani  Belgium 3:42.18
Ayanleh Souleiman  Djibouti DNF
Marcin Lewandowski  Poland DNF

Semifinal 2

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Abel Kipsang  Kenya 3:31.65 Q, OR
2 Jakob Ingebrigtsen  Norway 3:32.13 Q
3 Josh Kerr  Great Britain 3:32.18 Q
4 Adel Mechaal  Spain 3:32.19 Q, PB
5 Stewart McSweyn  Australia 3:32.54 Q
6 Jake Heyward  Great Britain 3:32.82 q, PB
7 Charles Grethen  Luxembourg 3:32.86 q, NR
8 Abdelatif Sadiki  Morocco 3:33.59 PB
9 Matthew Centrowitz  United States 3:33.69 SB
10 Azeddine Habz  France 3:35.12
11
Samuel Zeleke
 Ethiopia 3:37.66
12 Jesús Gómez  Spain 3:44.46
13 Michał Rozmys  Poland 3:54.53 qR

Final

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Jakob Ingebrigtsen  Norway 3:28.32 NR, OR, ER[12]
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Timothy Cheruiyot  Kenya 3:29.01
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Josh Kerr  Great Britain 3:29.05 PB
4 Abel Kipsang  Kenya 3:29.56 PB
5 Adel Mechaal  Spain 3:30.77 PB
6 Cole Hocker  United States 3:31.40 PB
7 Stewart McSweyn  Australia 3:31.91
8 Michał Rozmys  Poland 3:32.67 PB
9 Jake Heyward  Great Britain 3:34.43
10 Jake Wightman  Great Britain 3:35.09
11 Ollie Hoare  Australia 3:35.79
12 Charles Grethen  Luxembourg 3:36.80
13 Ignacio Fontes  Spain 3:38.56

References

  1. ^ a b "Athletics Competition Schedule". Tokyo 2020. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  2. ^
    IAAF. Archived
    (PDF) from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  3. ^ "Athletics-Norway's Ingebrigtsen upsets Cheruiyot to win 1,500 metres gold". Reuters. 7 August 2021. Archived from the original on 17 August 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  4. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 August 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^ "Tokyo 2020 - 1500m silver medallist Timothy Cheruiyot gifts bracelet to record-breaking champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen - Eurosport". Archived from the original on 8 August 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  6. ^ "IAAF to follow other sports with world ranking system for athletes". BBC Sport. 7 March 2018. Archived from the original on 15 March 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  7. ^ "Olympic qualification period suspended until 1 December 2020". World Athletics. 6 April 2020. Archived from the original on 9 April 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  8. ^ "Athletics Explanatory Guide". Tokyo 2020. August 2019.
  9. ^ "Tokyo 2020 – Team GB athletics round-up: Josh Kerr scrapes into 1500m semis as fastest loser". Eurosport. 3 August 2021. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  10. ^ "Tokyo 2020: Bahraini-middle-distance runner Alsadik-Mikhou provisionally suspended for blood doping". Eurosport. 8 August 2021. Archived from the original on 10 August 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  11. ^ "Start List" (PDF). 2020 Summer Olympics. Omega SA. 3 August 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  12. European Athletics. 7 August 2021. Archived
    from the original on 9 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.