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

Men's 1500 metres at the Games of the VIII Olympiad
Venue	Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir
Dates	July 9 (semifinals) July 10 (final)
Competitors	40 from 20 nations
Medalists
Paavo Nurmi  Finland Willy Schärer  Switzerland Henry Stallard  Great Britain

Athletics at the 1924 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 m		men
200 m		men
400 m		men
800 m		men
1500 m		men
5000 m		men
10,000 m		men
110 m hurdles		men
400 m hurdles		men
3000 m steeplechase		men
4×100 m relay		men
4×400 m relay		men
3000 m team race		men
10 km walk		men
Road events
Marathon	men
Field events
Long jump	men
Triple jump	men
High jump	men
Pole vault	men
Shot put	men
Discus throw	men
Hammer throw	men
Javelin throw	men
Combined events
Pentathlon	men
Decathlon	men
Cross-country events
Individual	men
Team	men

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 20 nations competed.

Records

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

World Record	3:52.6	Paavo Nurmi	Helsinki (FIN)	June 19, 1924
Olympic Record	3:56.8	Arnold Jackson	Stockholm (SWE)	July 10, 1912

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

Results

Semifinals

All semi-finals were held on Wednesday, July 9, 1924.

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

Semifinal 1

Place	Athlete	Time	Qual.
1	René Wiriath (FRA)	4:13.8	Q
2	Jaakko Luoma (FIN)	4:14.8	Q
3	Ferdinand Friebe (AUT)	4:15.8
4	22x20px Mohamed El-Sayed (EGY)
5	István Grósz (HUN)

Semifinal 2

Place	Athlete	Time	Qual.
1	Willy Schärer (SUI)	4:06.6	Q
2	Douglas Lowe (GBR)	4:07.2	Q
3	William Spencer (USA)	4:08.4
4	Léon Fourneau (BEL)
5	22x20px Clifford Davis (RSA)
6	Pala Singh (IND)

Semifinal 3

Place	Athlete	Time	Qual.
1	Paavo Nurmi (FIN)	4:07.6	Q
2	Sonny Spencer (GBR)	4:09.0	Q
3	Albert Larsen (DEN)	4:11.5
4	René Jubeau (FRA)	4:14.5
5	Aleksander Antson (EST)
6	Ferruccio Bruni (ITA)
7	22x20px Daniel Eslava (MEX)
8	Józef Jaworski (POL)	4:28.4

Semifinal 4

Place	Athlete	Time	Qual.
1	Arvo Peussa (FIN)	4:17.4	Q
2	Ray Watson (USA)	4:17.9	Q
3	Disma Ferrario (ITA)	4:18.5
4	Jan Zeegers (NED)	4:21.0
5	Jack Newman (AUS)
6	Joseph Van der Wee (BEL)
7	Stefan Kostrzewski (POL)	4:29.0

Semifinal 5

Place	Athlete	Time	Qual.
1	Henry Stallard (GBR)	4:11.8	Q
2	Ray Buker (USA)	4:12.8	Q
3	22x20px Rolph Barnes (CAN)	4:13.1
4	Louis Philipps (FRA)	4:13.4
5	Lyuben Karastoyanov (BUL)
6	Angelo Davoli (ITA)

Semifinal 6

Place	Athlete	Time	Qual.
1	Lloyd Hahn (USA)	4:06.8	Q
2	Frej Liewendahl (FIN)	4:07.4	Q
3	Cyril Ellis (GBR)	4:08.1
4	Robert Chottin (FRA)	4:14.8
5	Malcolm Boyd (AUS)
6	Giovanni Garaventa (ITA)
7	Vilém Šindler (TCH)	4:23.6
8	Ömer Besim Koşalay (TUR)

Final

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 won also the gold medal.

Place	Athlete	Time
1	Paavo Nurmi (FIN)	3:53.6 OR
2	Willy Schärer (SUI)	3:55.0
3	Henry Stallard (GBR)	3:55.6
4	Douglas Lowe (GBR)	3:57.0
5	Ray Buker (USA)	3:58.6
6	Lloyd Hahn (USA)	3:59.0
7	Ray Watson (USA)	4:00.0
8	Frej Liewendahl (FIN)	4:00.3
9	Arvo Peussa (FIN)	4:00.6
10	René Wiriath (FRA)	4:02.8
11	Sonny Spencer (GBR)	4:03.7
12	Jaakko Luoma (FIN)	4:03.9

References

• Olympic Report
• sports-reference