These are the official results of the
Men's 1500 metres event at the
2003 IAAF World Championships in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
. There were a total number of 29 participating athletes, with three qualifying heats, two semi-finals and the final held on Wednesday 27 August 2003 at 21:00h.
With all eyes on the world record holder
Hicham El Guerrouj
Hicham El Guerrouj ( ar, هشام الݣروج, Hishām l-Garrūj; ber, ⵀⵉⵛⴰⵎ ⴻⵍ ⴳⴻⵔⵔⵓⵊ, Hisham El Gerruj; born 14 September 1974) is a retired Moroccan middle-distance runner. El Guerrouj is the current world record h ...
, the final started with home team favorite
Mehdi Baala
Mehdi Baala ( ar, مهدي بعلة; born 17 August 1978 in Strasbourg) is a French, middle-distance runner competing mainly in the 1500 metres event. Baala has won several major international championships medals in the 1500 metres event – ...
taking the lead off the line though he was
Reyes Estévez
Reyes Estévez López (born 2 August 1976 in Cornellà de Llobregat, Spain) is a Spanish 1500 metres runner. He won the European Championships' final 1998 in Budapest. In addition, he won bronze medals at the 1997 World Champion ...
uncharacteristically took the lead and began pushing the pace a half lap into the race. As soon as Estévez began to create some daylight, El Guerrouj covered the move through a 57.70 first lap, but after letting Estévez lead a whole lap El Guerrouj edged ahead. It was 1:56.29 (58.59) after 2 laps with Baala the first to follow El Guerrouj, with
Paul Korir and Estévez in such close order drill that Korir stumbled from catching Estévez' legs and losing ground. At the bell in 2:37.87,
Fouad Chouki joined what was becoming a breakaway by El Guerrouj, Baala and Estévez. 2:51.28 (54.99) after 3 laps and El Guerrouj accelerated. In the final turn, Chouki accelerated past Estévez, but only Baala had managed to stay close to El Guerrouj. Bala was in perfect position to run around El Guerrouj coming off the turn, instead El Guerrouj accelerated again and got enough of a gap that it was clear he was going to win. Coming off the turn
Ivan Heshko
Ivan Heshko ( uk, Іван Гешко) (born August 19, 1979) is a Ukrainian middle-distance track athlete who specialized in the 1500 meters. He represented Ukraine at the 2004 Summer Olympics and holds multiple Ukrainian records in athletics ...
was in sixth place. He moved out to lane 3 and began sprinting, challenged by Korir. 50 meters from the finish, Chouki began to run out of gas. Estévez passed him but his hold on the bronze medal position was short-lived as Heshko, Korir and
Rui Silva all ran past him before the line. A month after the race, Chouki was disqualified and suspended for having
Erythropoietin in his system.
Final
Semi-Final
*Held on Monday 25 August 2003
Heats
Held on Saturday 23 August 2003
See also
*
Athletics at the 2003 Pan American Games - Men's 1500 metres
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:2003 World Championships In Athletics - Men's 1500 Metres
Events at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics, H
1500 metres at the World Athletics Championships