Jump to content

Athletics at the 1924 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metres

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Men's 1500 metres
at the Games of the VIII Olympiad
VenueStade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir
DatesJuly 9 (semifinals)
July 10 (final)
Competitors40 from 22 nations
Winning time3:53.6 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Paavo Nurmi
 Finland
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Willy Schärer
 Switzerland
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) H. B. Stallard
 Great Britain
← 1920
1928 →

The men's 1500 metres event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Wednesday, July 9, 1924, and on Thursday, July 10, 1924. As for all other races the track was 500 metres in circumference. Forty middle distance runners from 22 nations competed.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation was 4.

The event was won by Paavo Nurmi of Finland, the first of his 5 gold medals in 1924. He had previously won 3 gold medals and a silver in 1920 in longer distances and would go on to win another gold and 2 more silvers in 1928; this event would be the shortest distance at which Nurmi won a medal. He would race again in the 5000 metres less than an hour later. Nurmi's victory was Finland's first in the men's 1500 metres. Switzerland also earned its first 1500 metres medal with Willy Schärer's silver. The United States missed the podium for the first time, having taken at least bronze in each of the prior six editions of the event. H. B. Stallard's bronze gave Great Britain a medal in each of its five appearances, though the nation had not competed in the event in 1896 or 1904.

Background

[edit]

This was the seventh appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Ninth-place finisher Léon Fourneau of Belgium was the only finalist from the 1920 Games to return. Paavo Nurmi of Finland was dominant in both middle and long distances; he had broken the world record in the 1500 metres a few weeks before the Olympics.[2]

Bulgaria, Egypt, India, Mexico, Poland, and Switzerland each made their first appearance in the event. The United States made its seventh appearance, the only nation to have competed in the men's 1500 metres at each Games to that point.

Competition format

[edit]

The competition consisted of two rounds, the format used since 1908. The field was larger than in 1920, moving back towards more semifinals with fewer qualifiers from each. Six semifinals were held, with anywhere between 5 and 8 runners in each. The top two runners in each heat advanced to the final, for a 12-man final race.[2]

Records

[edit]

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1924 Summer Olympics.

World record  Paavo Nurmi (FIN) 3:52.6 Helsinki, Finland 19 June 1924
Olympic record  Arnold Jackson (GBR) 3:56.8 Stockholm, Sweden 10 July 1912

In the final Paavo Nurmi set a new Olympic record at 3:53.6.

Schedule

[edit]
Date Time Round
Wednesday, 9 July 1924 16:00 Semifinals
Thursday, 10 July 1924 14:45 Final

Results

[edit]

Semifinals

[edit]

All semifinals were held on Wednesday, July 9, 1924.

The best two finishers of every heat qualified for the final.

Semifinal 1

[edit]
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 René Wiriath  France 4:13.8 Q
2 Jaakko Luoma  Finland 4:14.8 Q
3 Ferdinand Friebe  Austria 4:15.8
4 Mohamed El-Sayed  Egypt Unknown
5 István Grósz  Hungary Unknown

Semifinal 2

[edit]
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Willy Schärer  Switzerland 4:06.6 Q
2 Douglas Lowe  Great Britain 4:07.2 Q
3 William Spencer  United States 4:08.4
4 Léon Fourneau  Belgium Unknown
5 Pala Singh  India Unknown
Clifford Davis  South Africa DNF

Semifinal 3

[edit]
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Paavo Nurmi  Finland 4:07.6 Q
2 Sonny Spencer  Great Britain 4:09.0 Q
3 Albert Larsen  Denmark 4:11.5
4 René Jubeau  France 4:14.5
5 Aleksander Antson  Estonia Unknown
6 Ferruccio Bruni  Italy Unknown
7 Daniel Eslava  Mexico Unknown
8 Józef Jaworski  Poland 4:28.4

Semifinal 4

[edit]
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Arvo Peussa  Finland 4:17.4 Q
2 Ray Watson  United States 4:17.9 Q
3 Disma Ferrario  Italy 4:18.5
4 Jan Zeegers  Netherlands 4:21.0
5 Jack Newman  Australia Unknown
6 Joseph Van der Wee  Belgium Unknown
7 Stefan Kostrzewski  Poland 4:29.0

Semifinal 5

[edit]
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 H. B. Stallard  Great Britain 4:11.8 Q
2 Ray Buker  United States 4:12.8 Q
3 Rolph Barnes  Canada 4:13.1
4 Louis Philipps  France 4:13.4
5 Angelo Davoli  Italy Unknown
6 Lyuben Karastoyanov  Bulgaria Unknown

Semifinal 6

[edit]
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Lloyd Hahn  United States 4:06.8 Q
2 Frej Liewendahl  Finland 4:07.4 Q
3 Cyril Ellis  Great Britain 4:08.1
4 Robert Chottin  France 4:14.8
5 Malcolm Boyd  Australia Unknown
6 Vilém Šindler  Czechoslovakia 4:23.6
7 Ömer Besim Koşalay  Turkey Unknown
Giovanni Garaventa  Italy DNF

Final

[edit]

The final was held on Thursday, July 10, 1924.

Less than 45 minutes after his win in this race Nurmi started in the 5000 metre event and also won that gold medal.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Paavo Nurmi  Finland 3:53.6 OR
2 Willy Schärer  Switzerland 3:55.0
3 H. B. Stallard  Great Britain 3:55.6
4 Douglas Lowe  Great Britain 3:57.0
5 Ray Buker  United States 3:58.6
6 Lloyd Hahn  United States 3:59.0
7 Ray Watson  United States 4:00.0
8 Frej Liewendahl  Finland 4:00.3
9 Arvo Peussa  Finland 4:00.6
10 René Wiriath  France 4:02.8
11 Sonny Spencer  Great Britain 4:03.7
12 Jaakko Luoma  Finland 4:03.9

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1924 Paris Games: Men's 1500 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  2. ^ a b "1500 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
[edit]