Athletics at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metres
The men's 1500 metres event at the 1952 Olympics took place between July 24 and July 26.[1]
| Men's 1500 metres at the Games of the XV Olympiad | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dates | July 24 (heats) July 25 (semifinals) July 26 (final) | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Athletics at the 1952 Summer Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Track events | ||
| 100 m | men | women |
| 200 m | men | women |
| 400 m | men | |
| 800 m | men | |
| 1500 m | men | |
| 5000 m | men | |
| 10,000 m | men | |
| 80 m hurdles | women | |
| 110 m hurdles | men | |
| 400 m hurdles | men | |
| 3000 m steeplechase | men | |
| 4×100 m relay | men | women |
| 4×400 m relay | men | |
| Road events | ||
| Marathon | men | |
| 10 km walk | men | |
| 50 km walk | men | |
| Field events | ||
| Long jump | men | women |
| Triple jump | men | |
| High jump | men | women |
| Pole vault | men | |
| Shot put | men | women |
| Discus throw | men | women |
| Javelin throw | men | women |
| Hammer throw | men | |
| Combined events | ||
| Decathlon | men | |
The early leaders of the final were Audun Boysen followed by Warren Druetzler. Towards the end of the first lap, Werner Lueg began to move up to take the lead, with Rolf Lamers on his shoulder to place a wall to control the pack. Patrick El Mabrouk was next in line but unable to get by. On the third lap Lamers was unable to maintain the pace as Josy Barthel and Roger Bannister exchanging elbows with El Mabrouk lined up behind Leug. With 300 metres to go, Leug accelerated, opening up a 5-metre gap down the backstretch but through the final turn, Leug was unable to hold the pace allowing Barthel to catch back up. Bob McMillen moved up from eighth place to catch the group of leaders at the head of the final straight. Barthel went around Leug and sprinted to victory. McMillen ran the long way around El Mabrouk and Bannister and was chasing Barthel down the straight. Leug maintained his gap on Bannister and El Mabrouk, but looked helplessly as McMillen sprinted past, but he didn't have enough race left to catch Barthel, finishing half a metre behind but also being credited with the same time, a new Olympic record.
To date, this is the only Olympic gold medal won by a Luxembourger, though Luxembourg-born Michel Théato is credited for winning the 1900 Marathon for France.
Results
Heats
The first round was held on July 24. The fastest four runners in each heat advanced to the final round.
Heat 1
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Josy Barthel |  | 3:51.6 | |
| 2 | Günter Dohrow |  | 3:51.8 | |
| 3 | Ingvar Ericsson |  | 3:52.0 | |
| 4 | Don MacMillan |  | 3:52.0 | |
| 5 | Sándor Iharos | .svg.png){kind=small} | 3:56.0 | |
| 6 | Mieczysław Długoborski | .svg.png){kind=small} | 3:57.8 | |
| 7 | Filemón Camacho | .svg.png){kind=small} | 4:18.0 | |
| 8 | Pierre Gillet |  | 4:26.6 | |
| 9 | Hans Harting |  | DNF |
Heat 2
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Warren Druetzler | .svg.png){kind=small} | 3:51.4 | |
| 2 | Sture Landqvist | | 3:52.2 | |
| 3 | Stanislav Jungwirth |  | 3:52.4 | |
| 4 | Mihail Velsvebel | .svg.png){kind=small} | 3:52.6 | |
| 5 | Aulis Pystynen |  | 3:53.0 | |
| 6 | Len Eyre |  | 3:53.2 | |
| 7 | Fred Lüthi |  | 3:56.4 | |
| 8 | Turhan Göker |  | 4:00.6 |
Heat 3
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Olle Åberg | | 3:51.0 | |
| 2 | Denis Johansson | | 3:51.2 | |
| 3 | Rolf Lamers | | 3:52.4 | |
| 4 | Bill Parnell | .svg.png){kind=small} | 3:53.4 | |
| 5 | Fritz Prossinagg |  | 3:54.2 | |
| 6 | Athol Jennings | .svg.png){kind=small} | 3:55.4 | |
| 7 | Daniel Janssens | .svg.png){kind=small} | 3:55.8 | |
| 8 | Cahit Önel | | 3:58.4 | |
| Willem Slijkhuis | | DNF |
Heat 4
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Patrick El Mabrouk | | 3:55.8 | |
| 2 | Bob McMillen | | 3:55.8 | |
| 3 | Roger Bannister | | 3:56.0 | |
| 4 | Vilmos Tölgyesi | | 3:56.0 | |
| 5 | John Landy | | 3:57.0 | |
| 6 | Andrija Otenhajmer | .svg.png){kind=small} | 3:57.8 | |
| 7 | Maurice Marshall |  | 4:01.0 | |
| 8 | Nikolay Kuchurin | | 4:03.6 | |
| 9 | Vasilios Mavroidis | .svg.png){kind=small} | 4:07.8 |
Heat 5
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Hoskins | | 3:56.2 | |
| 2 | Frans Herman | | 3:56.2 | |
| 3 | Bill Nankeville | | 3:56.4 | |
| 4 | Mykola Belokurov | | 3:56.4 | |
| 5 | Urpo Vähäranta | | 3:56.8 | |
| 6 | Javier Montez | | 3:58.2 | |
| 7 | Stefan Lewandowski | | 4:00.8 |
Heat 6
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Werner Lueg | | 3:52.0 | |
| 2 | Václav Čevona | | 3:53.4 | |
| 3 | Audun Boysen |  | 3:55.0 | |
| 4 | John Ross | | 3:55.2 | |
| 5 | Jean Vernier | | 3:56.8 | |
| 6 | Edmund Potrzebowski | | 3:56.8 | |
| 7 | Sándor Garay | | 4:01.2 | |
| 8 | Ekrem Koçak | | 4:01.4 | |
| 9 | William Fahmy Hanna | .svg.png){kind=small} | 4:11.2 | |
| 10 | Satid Leangtanom |  | 4:32.6 |
Semifinals
The fastest six runners in each heat advanced to the final round.
Heat one
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denis Johansson | | 3:49.4 | |
| 2 | Werner Lueg | | 3:49.8 | |
| 3 | Don MacMillan | | 3:50.8 | |
| 4 | Warren Druetzler | | 3:50.8 | |
| 5 | Patrick El Mabrouk | | 3:51.0 | |
| 6 | Audun Boysen | | 3:51.0 | |
| 7 | Václav Čevona | | 3:51.4 | |
| 8 | Sture Landqvist | | 3:51.4 | |
| 9 | Bill Nankeville | | 3:52.0 | |
| 10 | Bill Parnell | | 3:52.4 | |
| 11 | Mihail Velsvebel | | 3:52.6 | |
| 12 | George Hoskins | | 3:53.0 | |
Heat two
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Josy Barthel | | 3:50.4 | |
| 2 | Olle Åberg | | 3:50.6 | |
| 3 | Ingvar Ericsson | | 3:50.6 | |
| 4 | Bob McMillen | | 3:50.6 | |
| 5 | Roger Bannister | | 3:50.6 | |
| 6 | Rolf Lamers | | 3:50.8 | |
| 7 | Stanislav Jungwirth | | 3:51.0 | |
| 8 | Vilmos Tölgyesi | | 3:53.2 | |
| 9 | Frans Herman | | 3:53.8 | |
| 10 | Günter Dohrow | | 3:55.2 | |
| 11 | Nikolay Belokurov | | 3:55.6 | |
| 12 | John Ross | | 4:00.6 | |
Final
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Josy Barthel | | 3:45.2 | OR |
 | Bob McMillen | | 3:45.2 | |
 | Werner Lueg | | 3:45.4 | |
| 4 | Roger Bannister | | 3:46.0 | |
| 5 | Patrick El Mabrouk | | 3:46.0 | |
| 6 | Rolf Lamers | | 3:46.8 | |
| 7 | Olle Åberg | | 3:47.0 | |
| 8 | Ingvar Ericsson | | 3:47.6 | |
| 9 | Don MacMillan | | 3:49.6 | |
| 10 | Denis Johansson | | 3:49.8 | |
| 11 | Audun Boysen | | 3:51.4 | |
| 12 | Warren Druetzler | | 3:56.0 |
References
- "Athletics at the 1952 Helsinki Games: Men's 1500 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2017.