The men's

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

at the

2019 World Athletics Championships The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships () was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global sport of athletics, athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), since renamed World Athleti ...

was held at the

Khalifa International Stadium Khalifa International Stadium (, , ) is a multi-purpose stadium located in Doha, Qatar, around west from the centre of Doha. Its ground comprises a running track and a Pitch (sports field), grass pitch. Opened in 1976, the stadium was named af ...

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

from 3 to 6 October 2019. The winning margin was 2.12 seconds which as of 2024 remains the only time the men's 1,500 metres has been won by more than two seconds at these championships (the 1991 final was won by exactly two seconds).

Summary

In modern history, championship races are slow strategic affairs where fast athletes are unwilling to sacrifice their medals by running a fast pace. Fast races happen in more controlled environments with planned pace setters at major European meets.

Timothy Cheruiyot Timothy Cheruiyot (born 20 November 1995) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner specialising in the 1500 metres. He is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medallist in the event and the 11th fastest athlete all time over the distance. At the World Athle ...

didn't get the memo. From the gun, Cheruiyot and his Kenyan teammate

Ronald Kwemoi Ronald Chebolei Kwemoi (; born 19 September 1995) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in cross country running and track running events. He specialises in the 1500 metres and holds a personal best of 3:28.81 minutes set at Herculis on ...

went out hard, breaking away by 2 metres in the first 200. The guys who usually drop to the back realized this was serious and started scrambling to the front. Olympic gold medalist Matthew Centrowitz Jr. and silver medalist

Taoufik Makhloufi Taoufik Makhloufi (; born 29 April 1988) is an Algerian athlete who specialises in middle-distance running. He became the 1500 metres Olympic champion at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England. In 2016, Makhloufi took the silver medal in th ...

formed a chase group 5 metres back,

Jakob Ingebrigtsen Jakob Asserson Ingebrigtsen (born 19 September 2000) is a Norwegian Middle-distance running, middle- and Long-distance running, long-distance runner who is the world record holder in the short track 1500 metres, short track Mile run, mile, 2000 ...

leading the peloton another 5 metres back. Over the next lap, the chasers fell back to the peloton, the breakaway now 10 metres. Cheruiyot kept up the pressure, over the next half lap, Kwemoi fell off his back. By the bell, Kwemoi was back to the peloton, again led by Makhloufi. The next on the front were Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr. It appeared a more mature 23 year old Cheruiyot had learned from his fast early pace at the 2015 World Relays where he fell apart on the last lap. Here, there was no sign of letting up. Down the backstretch, coming from 9th place,

Marcin Lewandowski Marcin Przemysław Lewandowski (Polish pronunciation: ; born 13 June 1987) is a Polish retired middle-distance runner. He won the bronze medal in the 1500 metres at the 2019 World Athletics Championships and silver in the same event at the 201 ...

ran around the outside of the pack, hitting Makhloufi's shoulder by the beginning of the final turn. The other competitors were already fully extended and couldn't make any dramatic moves. Cheruiyot crossed the finish line 17 metres ahead of Makhloufi. Lewandowski was able to stay a metre behind Makhloufi, trying to nudge ahead in vain at the finish line. The others fell off the back with only Ingebrigtsen remaining two metres behind Lewandowski and

Jake Wightman Jake Wightman (born 11 July 1994) is a British Middle-distance running, middle-distance runner who primarily competes in the 1500 metres. He won the gold medal at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, 2022 World Championships, the first global ...

yet another metre back. While 3:29.26 was "only" the 57th best performance ever, it was the third fastest Olympic or World Championship performance, only bettered by the 1999 championships when the number 2 miler ever,

Noah Ngeny Noah Kiprono Ngeny (born 2 November 1978) is a Kenyan former athlete, Olympic gold medalist at 1500 m at the 2000 Summer Olympics, and world record holder in the 1000 m. He also ran the second-fastest mile ever. Career Noah was born in the ...

chased world record holder

Hicham El Guerrouj Hicham El Guerrouj (; ; born 14 September 1974) is a retired Moroccan middle-distance runner. El Guerrouj is the current world record holder for the 1500 metres and mile, and the former world record holder in the 2000 metres. He is the only m ...

to the championship record, and unlike that race, this was done off the front, solo.

Records

Before the competition records were as follows: The following records were set at the competition:

Qualification standard

The standard to qualify automatically for entry was 3:36.00 or 3:53.10 for the mile.

Schedule

The event schedule, in local time (UTC+3), was as follows:

Results

Heats

The first six in each heat (Q) and the next six fastest (q) qualified for the semi-finals.

Semi-finals

The first five in each heat (Q) and the next two fastest (q) qualified for the final.

Final

The final was started on 6 October at 19:40.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2019 World Championships in Athletics - Men's 1500 metres

1500 Year 1500 ( MD) was a leap year starting on Wednesday in the Julian calendar. The year 1500 was not a leap year in the proleptic Gregorian calendar. The year 1500 was the last year of the 15th century and the first year of the 16th century. ...

1500 metres at the World Athletics Championships