The 1500-metre run became a standard racing distance in Europe in the late 19th century, perhaps as a metric version of the

mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...

, a popular running distance since at least the 1850s in English-speaking countries. A distance of 1500 m sometimes is called the " metric mile". The French had the first important races over the distance, holding their initial championship in 1888. When the

Olympic Games 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 ...

were revived in 1896, metric distances were run, including the 1500; however, most of the best milers in the world were absent, and the winning time of 4:33 1/5 by

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

Edwin Flack Edwin Harold Flack (5 November 1873 – 10 January 1935) was an Australian athlete and tennis player. Also known as "Teddy", he was Australia's first Olympian, being its only representative in 1896, and the first Olympic champion in the ...

was 17 4/5 seconds slower than the amateur mile record, despite the fact one mile is 109.344 metres longer than 1500 metres. The 1900 Olympics and 1904 Olympics showed improvements in times run, but it was not until the 1908 Olympics that a meeting of the top milers over the distance took place, and not until the 1912 Olympics that a true world-class race over the distance was run. The distance has now almost completely replaced the mile in major track meets.

Men (outdoors)

Pre-
IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

IAAF era

The first world record in the 1500 m for men (

athletics 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 ...

) was recognized by the International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

, in 1912. To July 17, 2015, the IAAF has ratified 38 world records in the event. The "Time" column indicates the ratified mark; the "Auto" column indicates a fully automatic time that was also recorded in the event when hand-timed marks were used for official records, or which was the basis for the official mark, rounded to the 10th of a second, depending on the rules then in place. Auto times to the hundredth of a second were accepted by the IAAF for events up to and including 10,000 m from 1981. Hence, Steve Ovett's record at 3:31.4 was rendered as 3:31.36 from that year.

Women (outdoors)

Pre-IAAF

IAAF era

The first world record in the 1,500 m for women (

) was recognized by the International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as

, in 1967. To June 21, 2009, the IAAF has ratified 13 world records in the event. + - En route time during mile race. The "Time" column indicates the ratified mark; the "Auto" column indicates a fully automatic time that was also recorded in the event when hand-timed marks were used for official records, or which was the basis for the official mark, rounded to the 10th of a second, depending on the rules then in place. The IAAF accepted records to the hundredth of a second starting in 1981.

References

;General
Women's record progression
http://www.apulanta.fi/matti/yu/wrprogr_Women.html#1500

https://web.archive.org/web/20090202050033/http://user.uni-frankfurt.de/~khg/Rekorde/progtkww.htm]
Men's record progression
;Specific

Men (outdoors)

Pre-IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

IAAF era

Women (outdoors)

Pre-IAAF

IAAF era

References

Further reading

Pre-
IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...