The men's 1500 metres was an event at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

, held on 3 and 6 September. Thirty-nine athletes from 25 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Herb Elliott of Australia, the nation's second victory in the 1500 metres and first since 1896.

Michel Jazy Michel Jazy (born 13 June 1936) is a French former middle-distance runner and long-distance runner. He won the 1500 metres silver medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics, as well as two golds (in 1962 and 1966) and one silver (in 1966) at the Eur ...

of France took silver, the third time a French athlete had achieved that mark. Hungary won its first 1500 metres medal with

István Rózsavölgyi István Rózsavölgyi (30 March 1929 – 27 January 2012) was a Hungarian athlete who competed mainly in the 1500 metres. Career Rózsavölgyi was born in Budapest. One of the star pupils of Mihály Iglói, he entered the 1956 Su ...

's bronze.

Summary

The 1500 final was much more of an endurance race than contemporary strategic races. Michel Bernard took the lead from the beginning and dared the field to stay with him.

Arne Hamarsland Arne Hamarsland (born 24 July 1933) is a Norwegian middle-distance runner who specialized in 1500 metres. He represented IL Gular. At the 1960 Summer Olympics he finished ninth in the 1500 m final in 3:45.0 minutes. He also competed at the 1958 ...

and Jim Grelle struggled as the pack strung out quickly. With two laps to go, Herb Elliott upped the ante, taking the lead and pushing the pace.

was the last to drop off with Jazy close behind Rózsavölgyi. But Elliott was gone, cleanly ahead going into the final lap. Waiting on the final backstretch, his coach

Percy Cerutty Percy Wells Cerutty (10 January 189514 August 1975) was an Australian athletics coach in the 1950s and 1960s. The eccentric Australian pioneered a home-spun system of "Stotan" training, embracing a holistic regime of natural diets, hard trai ...

prearranged that he would wave a yellow towel if Elliott was in danger of being caught from behind or close to the world record. A confused Elliott saw the towel and accelerated, pushing hard to the finish. Elliott's three second victory took an additional half second out of his own

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

. His record would last for seven years before being improved upon by

Jim Ryun James Ronald Ryun (born April 29, 1947) is an American former Republican politician and Olympic track and field athlete, who at his peak was widely considered the world's top middle-distance runner. He won a silver medal in the 1500 m at the ...

. Behind Elliott, Jazy managed to catch Rózsavölgyi for the silver medal.

Background

This was the 14th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Twelfth-place finisher

Merv Lincoln Mervyn George "Merv" Lincoln (22 November 19331 May 2016) was an Australian middle-distance runner who won a silver medal in the mile run at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games and twice competed in the Summer Olympic Games. Ca ...

of Australia was the only finalist from 1956 to return, though multiple semifinalists did. Lincoln's countryman Herb Elliott was the "overwhelming favorite" in the race; he had taken the world records in both the 1500 metres and the mile in 1958 and never lost a race at either distance. Lincoln, as well as

of France and

of Hungary (who had both competed in 1956 without making the final), were expected to compete for silver. Iraq, Israel, Liechtenstein, Rhodesia, Romania, and Tunisia each made their first appearance in the event. The United States made its 14th appearance, the only nation to have competed in the men's 1500 metres at each Games to that point.

Competition format

The competition used the two-round format that had been in place since 1908 (except for one three-round version in 1952). There were three heats with 14 or 15 runners each (before withdrawals), with the top three runners in each advancing to the final race; the 9-man final was reduced from previous versions of the competition which used a 12-man final.Official Report, pp. 84–87.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1960 Summer Olympics. During the final, Herb Elliott broke his own world record by 0.4 seconds, running 3:35.6. The top six men in the final all surpassed the old Olympic record.

Schedule

All times are

Central European Time Central European Time (CET) is a standard time which is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The time offset from UTC can be written as UTC+01:00. It is used in most parts of Europe and in a few North African countries. CE ...

(

UTC+1 UTC+01:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +01:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2019-02-07T23:28:34+01:00. This time is used in: *Central European Time *West Africa Time *Western European Summer Time **B ...

)

Results

Semifinals

The fastest three runners in each of the three heats advanced to the final round.

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Semifinal 3

Final

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 1960 Summer Olympics - Men's 1500 metres M 1500 metres at the Olympics Men's events at the 1960 Summer Olympics