The men's 1500 metre freestyle event at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

took place on 12–13 August at the

Olympic Aquatics Stadium The Olympic Aquatics Stadium ( pt, Estádio Aquático Olímpico) was a temporary aquatics center in the Barra Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro. The venue hosted the Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics, swimming events, Synchronized swimming at t ...

Summary

Italian swimmer and 2015 world champion

Gregorio Paltrinieri Gregorio Paltrinieri (born 5 September 1994) is an Italian competitive Swimming (sport), swimmer. He is a former List of world records in swimming, world record holder in the short course World record progression 1500 metres freestyle, 1500 metr ...

outlasted the field on the closing stages to become his country's first ever Olympic champion in the program's longest pool race. Strengthening his lead from start to finish, Paltrinieri headed into the 1,400-metre turn under a world-record pace, but fell off towards the end for the gold medal in 14:34.57. U.S. distance ace

Connor Jaeger Connor Lee Jaeger (born April 30, 1991) is a former American competition swimmer who specializes in distance freestyle events. Jaeger attended the University of Michigan where he was a three-time All-American. He was a member of the 2012 Unit ...

overhauled the sub-14:40 barrier with an American record of 14:39.48 for the silver. Meanwhile, Paltrinieri's countryman

Gabriele Detti Gabriele Detti (born 29 August 1994) is an Italian competitive swimmer, who was for a time the world champion of the 800 m freestyle. He competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Career highlights At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Detti competed in th ...

gave the Italians a further reason to celebrate, as he powered home with a bronze in 14:40.86, overtaking the American challenger

Jordan Wilimovsky Jordan Matthew Wilimovsky (born April 22, 1994) is an American competitive swimmer who specializes in open water swimming. At the 2015 World Championships in Kazan, Russia, Wilimovsky won the gold medal in the 10 km open water event. Wilimovs ...

(14:45.03) by almost five seconds. Australia's

Mack Horton Mackenzie James Horton (born 25 April 1996) is an Australian freestyle swimmer. He is an Olympic gold medallist, World Championships medallist, and Commonwealth Games medallist. At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he finished ...

, who claimed the

400 m freestyle 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

title on night one, picked up the fifth spot with a 14:49.54 to hold off a sprint race from Canada's Ryan Cochrane (14:49.61), two-time medalist in this event, by seven hundredths of a second. France's

Damien Joly Damien Joly (born 4 June 1992 in Ollioules) is a French swimmer. At the 2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held ...

finished seventh in 14:52.73, with Norway's Henrik Christiansen (15:02.66) rounding out the top eight field. China's world-record holder

Sun Yang Sun Yang (; ; born 1 December 1991) is a Chinese Olympic and world-record-holding competitive swimmer. In 2012, Sun became the first Chinese athlete to win an Olympic swimming gold medal. Sun is the first male swimmer in history to earn Ol ...

missed a chance to defend his Olympic title in this event, after posting the sixteenth fastest time (15:01.97) in the preliminary competition. Meanwhile, Tunisian swimmer and Beijing 2008 champion

Oussama Mellouli Oussama "Ous" Mellouli ( ar, أسامة الملولي; born 16 February 1984) is a Tunisian swimmer who competes in the freestyle and medley events. He is a three-time Olympic medalist, is an African record holder, and trains with the USC Tr ...

failed to advance to the top eight final with a twenty-first-place finish in his fifth Olympic appearance.

Records

Competition format

The competition consisted of two rounds: heats and a final. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the heats advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round.

Results

Heats

Final

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics - Men's 001500 metre freestyle Men's 001500 metre freestyle

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

Men's events at the 2016 Summer Olympics