The men's 1500 metres was an event at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. There were 57 competitors from 37 nations. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event took place between 29 July and 3 August. The event was won by

Noureddine Morceli Noureddine Morceli ( ar, نور الدين مرسلي, ''Nūr ud-Dīn Mursilī''; born February 28, 1970) is a retired Algerian middle-distance runner. He was the winner of the 1500 metres at the 1996 Summer Olympics and won three straight gold me ...

of Algeria, the nation's first championship in the men's 1500 metres.

Fermín Cacho Fermín Cacho Ruiz (born 16 February 1969) is a Spanish track and field athlete, winner of the gold medal in the 1500m at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and the silver medal in the 1500m at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Born in ...

of Spain was unable to repeat as gold medalist, but took silver to become the fourth man to win two medals in the event.

Summary

Algerian

had dominated the 1500 for five years, holding the world record and winning the previous three world championships. But

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 ...

, from neighboring Morocco was the rising star, who had chased Morceli in the most recent world championships. This was expected to be the match race. While Morceli had led the semi-finals in close to Olympic record time, the final race was much slower and entirely strategic. Approaching the bell at the end of the third lap, Morceli had moved into the lead with El Guerrouj sprinting up to his shoulder. Morceli held him off with El Guerrouj having to cede position and move in behind Morceli squeezing in front of defending champion, master tactician Fermin Cacho who was perfectly positioned directly behind Morceli. Two strides later El Guerrouj tripped and fell. Morceli took off sprinting at the same moment the rest of the field had to evade El Guerrouj's body on the track. Cacho was forced to leap over the fallen El Guerrouj, almost stepping on him. Next in line

Abdi Bile Abdi Bile ( so, Cabdi Bile Cabdi, ar, عبد بلي عبد ; born 28 December 1962) is a former middle distance runner. He holds the highest number of national records in athletics in Somalia across various disciplines. He is currently Somalia' ...

had to jump off the track to the infield. Morceli opened up 2 meters in the process, which he widened to 5 down the backstretch. Cacho and Bile held that gap onto the final straight. Bile faded while Cacho held on until he could see it was futile to catch Morceli, jogging in for silver. Stephen Kipkorir led two other Kenyan teammates around Bile to take bronze. After quickly staggering to his feet, El Guerrouj chased the field but shocked and disheartened, he was unable to catch anybody.

Background

This was the 23rd appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. All three medalists (

of Spain, Rachid El Basir of Morocco, and Mohamed Suleiman of Qatar) from 1992 returned, along with seventh-place finisher

of Algeria and ninth-place finisher

Graham Hood Graham Hood (born April 2, 1972) is a retired track and field athlete from Canada, who competed in the middle distance events. Early life Hood was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba to parents Colin and Brenda, but grew up in Burlington, Ontario. His ...

of Canada. Morceli had been favored in Barcelona, and was again a favorite in Atlanta; he had won the last three world championships and broken the world record twice.

of Morocco was a rising star expected to challenge Morceli; he had come in second at the 1995 world championships and would go on to win the next four and break the world record himself.

Vénuste Niyongabo Vénuste Niyongabo (born December 9, 1973) is a Burundian former long and middle-distance runner. In 1996, he became the first Olympic medalist from Burundi by winning the 5000 metres at the 1996 Summer Olympics. He had only competed twice bef ...

of Burundi would have been another contender but chose not to enter in order to focus on the 5000 metres. Burundi, Dominica, the Maldives, the Solomon Islands, and Ukraine each made their first appearance in the event. The United States made its 22nd appearance, most of all nations (having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games).

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 again in 1992 were used. There were five heats in the first round, each with 11 or 12 runners. The top four 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.Official Report, vol. 3, pp. 76–77.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1996 Summer Olympics. No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

Schedule

All times are

Eastern Daylight Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...

( UTC-4)

Results

Round 1

Heat 1

Heat 2

Heat 3

Heat 4

Heat 5

Overall results for round 1

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Overall results for semifinals

Final

References

External links

Official Report

{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics At The 1996 Summer Olympics - Men's 1500 Metres 1 1500 metres at the Olympics Men's events at the 1996 Summer Olympics