The men's 1500 metres at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on 15–19 August at the Beijing National Stadium. Forty-eight athletes from 30 nations competed.
The qualifying standards were 3:36.60 (A standard) and 3:39.00 (B standard).
The initial winner, Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain, tested positive for the blood-booster CERA and was disqualified on November 18, 2009. After the disqualification, the event was won by Asbel Kiprop of Kenya, the nation's fourth title in the event. It was the fourth straight Games with a Kenyan on the podium in the event; the United States (six times from 1896 to 1920) and Great Britain (four times from 1908 to 1924) were the only other nations to have accomplished that. Nicholas Willis's silver was New Zealand's first medal in the men's 1500 metres since 1976. Mehdi Baala's bronze was France's first medal in the event since 1960.
Background
This was the 26th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Five finalists from 2004 returned: silver medalist Bernard Lagat (who since immigrated from Kenya to the United States), fifth-place finisher Ivan Heshko of Ukraine, seventh-place finisher Reyes Estévez of Spain, tenth-place finisher Mulugeta Wendimu of Ethiopia, and eleventh-place finisher Kamal Boulahfane of Algeria. Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain, a semifinalist in 2004, was now the favorite, with the two men who had medalled in both 2000 and 2004 either retired (Hicham El Guerrouj) or competing but injured (Lagat).
Ecuador, Eritrea, and Serbia each made their first appearance in the event. The United States made its 25th appearance, most of all nations (having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games).
Qualification
Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) was able to enter up to three entrants providing they had met the A qualifying standard (3:36.00) in the qualifying period (1 January 2007 to 23 July 2008). NOCs were also permitted to enter one athlete providing he had met the B standard (3:39.00) in the same qualifying period.
Competition format
The competition was again three rounds (used previously in 1952 and since 1964). The "fastest loser" system introduced in 1964 was used for both the first round and semifinals. The 12-man semifinals and finals introduced in 1984 and used since 1992 were retained. The field was slightly larger than in past Games, expanding the number of heats from three to four.
There were four heats in the first round, each with 12 or 13 runners (before withdrawals). The top five runners in each heat, along with the next four fastest overall, advanced to the semifinals. The 24 semifinalists were divided into two semifinals, each with 12 runners. The top five men in each semifinal, plus the next two fastest overall, advanced to the 12-man final.
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world record, Olympic record, and world leading time were as follows:
No new world or Olympic records were set for this event. The following national records were established during the competition:
Nation Athlete Round Time Tiidrek Nurme Heat 3 3:38.59
Schedule
All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8)
Date Time Round Friday, 15 August 2008 19:10 Round 1 Sunday, 17 August 2008 21:55 Semifinals Tuesday, 19 August 2008 22:50 Final
Results
Round 1
Heat 1
Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 7 Mehdi Baala 3:35.87 2 2 Nicholas Willis 3:36.01 3 9 Daham Naim Bashir 3:36.05 4 1 Tarek Boukensa 3:36.11 5 11 Deresse Mekonnen 3:36.22 6 4 Leonel Manzano 3:36.67 7 3 Javier Carriqueo 3:39.36 8 12 Reyes Estevez 3:39.62 9 5 Taylor Milne 3:41.56 10 8 Youssef Baba 3:42.13 11 10 Vyacheslav Shabunin 3:42.53 — 6 Juan Luis Barrios
Heat 2
Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 3 Asbel Kiprop 3:41.28 2 1 Nathan Brannen 3:41.45 3 2 Juan Carlos Higuero 3:41.70 4 5 Bernard Lagat 3:41.98 5 13 Antar Zerguelaine 3:42.30 6 12 Goran Nava 3:42.92 7 11 Thomas Lancashire 3:43.40 8 8 Alistair Cragg 3:44.90 9 6 Hais Welday 3:45.06 10 9 Mohammed Othman Shaween 3:45.82 11 4 Mitchell Kealey 3:46.31 12 10 Isiah Msibi 3:51.35 — 7 Ivan Heshko
Heat 3
Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 9 Juan van Deventer 3:36.32 2 5 Arturo Casado 3:36.42 3 8 Andrew Baddeley 3:36.47 4 7 Abdalaati Iguider 3:36.48 5 6 Lopez Lomong 3:36.70 6 12 Belal Mansoor Ali 3:36.84 7 2 Hudson de Souza 3:37.06 8 4 Demma Daba 3:37.78 9 11 Tiidrek Nurme 3:38.59 , 10 1 David Freeman 3:39.70 11 10 Nicholas Kemboi 3:41.56 12 3 Byron Piedra 3:45.57 13 13 Abdalla Abdelgadir 3:47.65
Heat 4
Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 3 Rashid Ramzi 3:32.89 , 2 4 Mohamed Moustaoui 3:34.80 3 9 Augustine Kiprono Choge 3:35.47 4 6 Christian Obrist 3:35.91 , 5 5 Kevin Sullivan 3:36.05 6 7 Carsten Schlangen 3:36.34 7 1 Mulugeta Wendimu 3:36.67 8 2 Kamal Thamer Ali 3:41.08 9 10 Mahamoud Farah 3:43.62 10 8 Chauncy Master 3:44.96 11 11 Kamel Boulahfane 3:45.59 12 12 Jeffrey Riseley 3:53.95
Overall results for round 1
Heat Lane Athlete Country PB SB Time Notes 1 1 Tarek Boukensa 3:30.92 3:31.98 3:36.11 1 2 Nicholas Willis 3:32.17 3:33.51 3:36.01 1 3 Javier Carriqueo 3:38.62 3:39.36 3:39.36 1 4 Leonel Manzano 3:35.29 3:36.67 3:36.67 1 5 Taylor Milne 3:36.00 3:36.00 3:41.56 1 6 Juan Luis Barrios 3:37.71 3:37.87 1 7 Mehdi Baala 3:28.98 3:32.00 3:35.87 1 8 Youssef Baba 3:32.13 3:33.85 3:42.13 1 9 Daham Naim Bashir 3:31.04 3:34.77 3:36.05 1 10 Vyacheslav Shabunin 3:32.28 3:37.99 3:42.53 1 11 Deresse Mekonnen 3:33.71 3:33.71 3:36.22 1 12 Reyes Estevez 3:30.57 3:34.98 3:39.62 2 1 Nathan Brannen 3:34.65 3:34.65 3:41.45 2 2 Juan Carlos Higuero 3:31.57 3:32.57 3:41.70 2 3 Asbel Kiprop 3:31.64 3:31.64 3:41.28 2 4 Mitchell Kealey 3:36.21 3:36.21 3:46.31 2 5 Bernard Lagat 3:26.34 3:35.14 3:41.98 2 6 Hais Welday 3:37.25 3:37.25 3:45.06 2 7 Ivan Heshko 3:30.33 3:43.95 2 8 Alistair Cragg 3:36.18 3:39.12 3:44.90 2 9 Mohammed Othman Shaween 3:33.90 3:33.90 3:45.82 2 10 Isiah Msibi 3:51.35 3:51.35 3:51.35 2 11 Thomas Lancashire 3:35.33 3:35.33 3:43.40 2 12 Goran Nava 3:38.35 3:38.35 3:42.92 2 13 Antar Zerguelaine 3:31.95 3:33.32 3:42.30 3 1 David Freeman 3:38.90 3:39.70 3:39.70 3 2 Hudson de Souza 3:33.25 3:36.89 3:37.06 3 3 Byron Piedra 3:37.88 3:45.17 3:45.57 3 4 Demma Daba 3:35.27 3:35.27 3:37.78 3 5 Arturo Casado 3:33.14 3:33.14 3:36.42 3 6 Lopez Lomong 3:36.36 3:36.36 3:36.70 3 7 Abdalaati Iguider 3:31.88 3:31.88 3:36.48 3 8 Andrew Baddeley 3:34.36 3:34.36 3:36.47 3 9 Juan van Deventer 3:34.46 3:34.46 3:36.32 3 10 Nicholas Kemboi 3:33.72 3:35.25 3:41.56 3 11 Tiidrek Nurme 3:38.59 3:38.59 3:38.59 , 3 12 Belal Mansoor Ali 3:31.49 3:33.12 3:36.84 3 13 Abdalla Abdelgadir 3:38.93 3:38.93 3:47.65 4 1 Mulugeta Wendimu 3:31.13 3:34.67 3:36.67 4 2 Kamal Thamer Ali 3:35.56 3:35.56 3:41.08 4 3 Rashid Ramzi 3:29.14 3:32.89 3:32.89 , 4 4 Mohamed Moustaoui 3:32.06 3:32.06 3:34.80 4 5 Kevin Sullivan 3:31.71 3:35.78 3:36.05 4 6 Christian Obrist 3:35.32 3:35.91 3:35.91 , 4 7 Carsten Schlangen 3:34.99 3:34.99 3:36.34 4 8 Chauncy Master 3:42.73 3:42.73 3:44.96 4 9 Augustine Kiprono Choge 3:31.57 3:31.57 3:35.47 4 10 Mahamoud Farah 3:39.29 3:39.29 3:43.62 4 11 Kamel Boulahfane 3:32.44 3:33.33 3:45.59 4 12 Jeffrey Riseley 3:36.03 3:36.03 3:53.95
Semifinals
Qual. rule: first 5 of each heat (Q) plus the 2 fastest times (q) qualified. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
Semifinal 1
The first semifinal was held on 17 August 2008 at 21:55.
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Asbel Kiprop 3:37.04 2 Abdalaati Iguider 3:37.21 3 Juan Carlos Higuero 3:37.31 4 Christian Obrist 3:37.47 5 Belal Mansoor Ali 3:37.60 6 Juan van Deventer 3:37.75 7 Daham Najim Bashir 3:37.77 8 Carsten Schlangen 3:37.949 Nathan Brannen 3:39.1010 Mulugeta Wendimu 3:40.1611 Antar Zerguelaine 3:40.6412 Lopez Lomong 3:41.00
Semifinal 2
The second semifinal was held on 17 August 2008 at 22:04.
RankAthleteNationTimeNotes 1 Rashid Ramzi 3:37.11 , 2 Mehdi Baala 3:37.47 3 Andrew Baddeley 3:37.47 4 Augustine Kiprono Choge 3:37.54 5 Nicholas Willis 3:37.54 6 Bernard Lagat 3:37.79 7 Deresse Mekonnen 3:37.85 8 Tarek Boukensa 3:39.73 9 Kevin Sullivan 3:40.30 10 Mohamed Moustaoui 3:40.90 11 Arturo Casado 3:41.57 12 Leonel Manzano 3:50.33
Final
The final was held on 19 August 2008 at 22:50. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
RankAthleteNationTimeNotes Asbel Kiprop 3:33.11 Nicholas Willis 3:34.16 Mehdi Baala 3:34.214 Juan Carlos Higuero 3:34.445 Abdalaati Iguider 3:34.666 Juan van Deventer 3:34.777 Belal Mansoor Ali 3:35.238 Andrew Baddeley 3:35.379 Augustine Kiprono Choge 3:35.5010 Daham Najim Bashir 3:37.6811 Christian Obrist 3:39.87DQ Rashid Ramzi 3:32.94
Splits
Intermediate Athlete Nation Mark 400 m Asbel Kiprop 56.48 800 m Augustine Kiprono Choge 1:56.06 1200 m Augustine Kiprono Choge 2:53.67
References