Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metres

The men's 1500 metres was the third-longest of the seven men's track races in the Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics program in Tokyo. It was held on 17 October, 19 October, and 21 October 1964. 50 athletes from 34 nations entered, with 7 not starting the first round. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The first round was held on 17 October, with the semifinals on 19 October and the final on 21 October.[1]

Men's 1500 metres
at the Games of the XVIII Olympiad
Olympic Athletics
VenueOlympic Stadium
Dates17–21 October
Competitors43 from 33 nations
Winning time3:38.1
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Peter Snell
 New Zealand
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Josef Odložil
 Czechoslovakia
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) John Davies
 New Zealand
← 1960
1968 →

The event was won by Peter Snell of New Zealand; it was the first win by a Kiwi in the event since Jack Lovelock did so in 1936. Snell was also the first man to double in the 800 and 1500 metres races since Albert Hill in 1920. John Davies took bronze, making the first time in any event that New Zealand had two medalists in the same competition.[2]

Background

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This was the 15th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Only two finalists, and no medalists, from 1960 returned: sixth-place finisher Dyrol Burleson of the United States and seventh-place finisher Michel Bernard of France. Silver medalist Michel Jazy of France was entered, but did not start. The favorite was Peter Snell of New Zealand, who had won the 800 metres in 1960 and again in 1964 (with the 800 metres final a day before the 1500 metres first round), as well as breaking the one-mile world record in 1962.[3]

Chad, Hong Kong, Iran, the Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kenya, and Malaysia each made their first appearance in the event. The United States made its 15th appearance, the only nation to have competed in the men's 1500 metres at each Games to that point.

Competition format

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The competition expanded again to three rounds (used previously in 1952, the only prior exception to the two-round format that had been in place since 1908). The 1964 competition introduced the "fastest loser" system, used only in the semifinals at this edition. Previously, advancement depended solely on the runners' place in their heat. The 1964 competition added advancement places to the fastest runners across the heats in the semifinals who did not advance based on place. There were four heats with 12 or 13 runners each (before withdrawals), with the top four runners in each and the next two fastest overall advancing to the semifinals. These 18 semifinalists ran in two heats of 9 men each, with the top four in each heat and the faster of the two fifth-place finishers advancing to the final (a 9-man final, down from 12, had first been used in 1960).[3][4]

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1964 Summer Olympics.

World record   Herb Elliott (AUS) 3:35.6 Rome, Italy 6 September 1960
Olympic record   Herb Elliott (AUS) 3:35.6 Rome, Italy 6 September 1960

No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

Schedule

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All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

Date Time Round
Saturday, 17 October 1964 11:00 Round 1
Monday, 19 October 1964 11:00 Semifinals
Wednesday, 21 October 1964 13:20 Final

Results

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First round

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The top four runners in each of the 4 heats advanced, as well as the next two fastest runners from across all heats.

Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Witold Baran   Poland 3:45.3 Q
2 John Davies   New Zealand 3:45.5 Q
3 Dyrol Burleson   United States 3:45.6 Q
4 Ergas Leps   Canada 3:46.4 Q
5 Bill McKim   Great Britain 3:46.8
6 Hansrüedi Knill   Switzerland 3:47.2
7 Denos Adjima Beche   Ivory Coast 3:53.5
8 Basil Clifford   Ireland 3:54.9
9 Neville Myton   Jamaica 3:57.0
10 R. Subramaniam   Malaysia 3:59.4
Ahmed Issa   Chad DNS
Nguyet Van Ly   Vietnam DNS
J. G. Neira Carvajal   Colombia DNS

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Michel Bernard   France 3:44.1 Q
2 Jurgen May   United Team of Germany 3:44.2 Q
3 John Whetton   Great Britain 3:44.2 Q
4 Jim Ryun   United States 3:44.4 Q
5 Karl-Uno Olofsson   Sweden 3:44.8 q
6 Olavi Salonen   Finland 3:46.8
7 Francesco Bianchi   Italy 3:47.9
8 Ebrahim Yazdanpanah   Iran 3:54.8
9 Albie Thomas   Australia 3:54.9
10 Tira Klai-Angtong   Thailand 4:08.7
Muharrem Dalkilic   Turkey DNS
Jean Randrianjatovo   Madagascar DNS

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Kipchoge Keino   Kenya 3:45.8 Q
2 Wolf-Dieter Holtz   United Team of Germany 3:46.6 Q
3 Tom O'Hara   United States 3:46.7 Q
4 Peter Snell   New Zealand 3:46.8 Q
5 Stig Lindback   Sweden 3:47.1
6 Volker Tulzer   Austria 3:49.0
7 Rolf Jelinek   Switzerland 3:51.2
8 Michel Medinger   Luxembourg 3:51.8
9 Chung Kyo Mo   South Korea 3:53.0
10 Hugo Walser   Liechtenstein 3:53.3
11 Anar Khan   Pakistan 3:56.7
Michel Jazy   France DNS
Manuel Oliveira   Portugal DNS

Heat 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Alan Simpson   Great Britain 3:42.8 Q
2 Jean Wadoux   France 3:43.0 Q
3 Josef Odložil   Czechoslovakia 3:43.2 Q
4 Eugene Allonsius   Belgium 3:43.3 Q
5 Simo Važić   Yugoslavia 3:43.7 q
6 Siegried Valentin   United Team of Germany 3:44.9
7 Sebsibe Mamo   Ethiopia 3:45.8
8 Ivan Belytskiy   Soviet Union 3:46.7
9 Attila Simon   Hungary 3:49.1
10 Toichi Yamaguchi   Japan 3:56.7
11 Eric Amevor   Ghana 3:58.4
12 Patrick Field   Hong Kong 4:02.6

Semifinals

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The fastest four runners in each of the two semifinals and the fastest remaining runner qualified for the final.

Semifinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Peter Snell   New Zealand 3:38.8 Q
2 Witold Baran   Poland 3:38.9 Q
3 Josef Odložil   Czechoslovakia 3:39.3 Q
4 Michel Bernard   France 3:39.7 Q
5 John Whetton   Great Britain 3:39.9 q
6 Wolf-Dieter Holtz   United Team of Germany 3:42.3
7 Karl-Uno Olofsson   Sweden 3:44.8
8 Ergas Leps   Canada 3:51.2
9 Jim Ryun   United States 3:55.0

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Dyrol Burleson   United States 3:41.5 Q
2 Alan Simpson   Great Britain 3:41.5 Q
3 John Davies   New Zealand 3:41.9 Q
4 Jean Wadoux   France 3:41.9 Q
5 Kipchoge Keino   Kenya 3:41.9
6 Eugene Allonsius   Belgium 3:41.9
7 Tom O'Hara   United States 3:43.4
8 Jurgen May   United Team of Germany 3:46.8
9 Simo Važić   Yugoslavia 3:48.3

Final

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1500 m final: Alan Simpson (155), Dyrol Burleson (714), Witold Baran (499), John Whetton (160), Peter Snell (466), John Davies (467).

World and Olympic record holder, Herb Elliott was not back to defend his title, having retired from the sport at 24 years of age. 1960 800 metre champion Peter Snell entered the Olympics with the intent of duplicating his feat, doubling over similar distances at the previous 1962 Commonwealth Games. He had already lowered Elliott's mile world record by a tick two years earlier. Snell had already successfully defended his 800 metre title.

As had been his typical strategy, Snell chose to stay in a marking position behind the leaders. Splits were recorded at 400 metres, 800 metres, and 1200 metres. Michel Bernard led after the first lap, Josef Odložil and John Davies were in front after two. Wary of being boxed in as he was in the 1960 Olympic 800, at the bell his countryman Davies held the lead while Snell was boxed in by Dyrol Burleson. He slowed then decisively moved to the outside to be in a position to run. Others were also scrambling for position, Witold Baran made his move and had the lead at the end of the third lap but Davies again assumed the lead down the backstretch. With about 220 metres to go, Snell accelerated, blowing past Baran and Davies, the others would now be racing for second place. Snell extended his lead to almost 10 metres, crossing the finish line 1.5 seconds ahead of anyone else. Through the turn, Alan Simpson got around Davies and Baran, behind them Burleson was moving to the outside. Even further back, Odložil began his final sprint around the outside of Burleson. Davies was able to get barely ahead of Simpson, holding him off at the finish line but that would only be for bronze as Odložil came roaring down the home stretch, catching both before the finish to grab silver.

Rank Athlete Nation Time
Lap 1 Lap 2 Lap 3 Final
  Peter Snell   New Zealand 0:58.8 2:00.7 2:59.5 3:38.1
  Josef Odložil   Czechoslovakia 0:59.2 2:00.5 2:59.7 3:39.6
  John Davies   New Zealand 0:59.0 2:00.5 2:59.3 3:39.6
4 Alan Simpson   Great Britain 0:58.9 2:01.0 3:00.0 3:39.7
5 Dyrol Burleson   United States 0:58.3 2:01.1 2:59.6 3:40.0
6 Witold Baran   Poland 0:58.7 2:00.8 2:59.4 3:40.3
7 Michel Bernard   France 0:58.0 2:01.3 2:59.7 3:41.2
8 John Whetton   Great Britain 0:58.5 2:00.7 2:59.9 3:42.4
9 Jean Wadoux   France 0:59.3 2:01.5 3:00.3 3:45.4

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1964 Tokyo Games: Men's 1500 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  2. ^ Peter Snell wins second gold in Tokyo, NZ Ministry for Culture and Heritage, 18-Aug-2015
  3. ^ a b "1500 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  4. ^ Official Report, vol. 2, pp. 29–30.