Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metres

The men's 1500 metres race, the longest flat-track race of the 1896 Summer Olympics programme, was the last event on 7 April. It was run in a single heat, with eight athletes competing.[1]

Men's 1500 metres at the Games of the I Olympiad
Edwin Flack
Venue	Panathinaiko Stadium
Dates	April 7
Competitors	8 from 5 nations
Winning time	4:33.2 OR
Medalists
Edwin Flack  Australia Arthur Blake  United States Albin Lermusiaux  France

Summary

Albin Lermusiaux of France led for most of the race, but was caught by Flack and Blake 100m from the end and finished with a bronze medal. Edwin Flack won the race by five meters, becoming the first Australian Olympic champion. The four Greek athletes trailed the other four athletes, though records do not indicate which position the last two finished in.

Background

This was the first appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Albin Lermusiaux of France had held the unofficial world record for two weeks in 1895; the two men who had broken his record since then were not present in Athens. Arthur Blake of the United States and Edwin Flack of Australia were also significant distance runners competing.[2]

Competition format

The competition consisted of a single round.[2][3]

Records

World record	Thomas Conneff (USA)	4:15.6 (u)	New York City, United States	26 August 1895
Olympic record	New event	n/a	n/a	n/a

Edwin Flack set the initial Olympic record of 4:15.6 in the only race held.

Schedule

The precise times of the events are not recorded. The 1500 metres was the final event of the second day.[3]

Date		Round
Gregorian	Julian
Tuesday, 7 April 1896	Tuesday, 26 March 1896	Final

Results

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
	Edwin Flack	Australia	4:33.2	OR
	Arthur Blake	United States	4:33.6
	Albin Lermusiaux	France	4:36.0
4	Carl Galle	Germany	4:39.0
5	Angelos Fetsis	Greece	Unknown
6	Dimitrios Golemis	Greece	Unknown
7–8	Konstantinos Karakatsanis	Greece	Unknown
	Dimitrios Tomprof	Greece	Unknown

References

1. "Athletics at the 1896 Athens Games: Men's 1500 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
2. "1500 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
3. Official Report, pp. 71–72.

Notes

• Lampros, S.P.; Polites, N.G.; De Coubertin, Pierre; Philemon, P.J. & Anninos, C. (1897). The Olympic Games: BC 776 – AD 1896. Athens: Charles Beck. (Digitally available at la84foundation.org)
• Mallon, Bill & Widlund, Ture (1998). The 1896 Olympic Games. Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-0379-0. (Excerpt available at la84foundation.org)
• Smith, Michael Llewellyn (2004). Olympics in Athens 1896. The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games. London: Profile Books. ISBN 978-1-86197-342-9.