Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metres
| Men's 1500 metres at the Games of the V Olympiad | ||||||||||
 The finish with Arnold Jackson setting a new Olympic record. | ||||||||||
| Venue | Stockholm Olympic Stadium | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dates | July 9 (semifinals) July 10 (final) | |||||||||
| Competitors | 45 from 14 nations | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics  | ||
|---|---|---|
| Track events | ||
| 100 m | men | |
| 200 m | men | |
| 400 m | men | |
| 800 m | men | |
| 1500 m | men | |
| 5000 m | men | |
| 10,000 m | men | |
| 110 m hurdles | men | |
| 4×100 m relay | men | |
| 4×400 m relay | men | |
| 3000 m team race | men | |
| 10 km walk | men | |
| Road events | ||
| Marathon | men | |
| Field events | ||
| Long jump | men | |
| Triple jump | men | |
| High jump | men | |
| Pole vault | men | |
| Standing long jump | men | |
| Standing high jump | men | |
| Shot put | men | |
| Discus throw | men | |
| Hammer throw | men | |
| Javelin throw | men | |
| 2-hand shot put | men | |
| 2-hand discus | men | |
| 2-hand javelin | men | |
| Combined events | ||
| Pentathlon | men | |
| Decathlon | men | |
| Cross-country events | ||
| Individual | men | |
| Team | men | |
The men's 1500 metres was a track and field athletics event held as part of the athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fifth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Tuesday, July 9, 1912 and on Wednesday, July 10, 1912.
Forty-five runners from 14 nations competed, including the Olympic champion from 1908, Mel Sheppard.
Arnold Jackson won the final by 0.1 second, ahead of an American trio, who were strong favourites, in what was acclaimed at the time as "the greatest race ever run". Aged 21, he remains the youngest ever winner of this event. This was the last Olympics where "private entries" were allowed (i.e. not part of a country's officially selected team), and Jackson was one such.
Records
These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1912 Summer Olympics.
| World Record | 3:55.8 |  Abel Kiviat |
Cambridge, MA (USA) | June 8, 1912 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olympic Record | 4:03.4(**) |  Norman Hallows |
London (GBR) | July 13, 1908 |
| 4:03.4(**) | Mel Sheppard |
London (GBR) | July 14, 1908 |
(**) This track was 536.45 metres= 1⁄3 mile in circumference.
Abel Kiviat finished his semifinal only 1 second off the Olympic record time of 4:03.4; he and all six other finalists whose times are known broke that mark in the final. Kiviat took second behind Arnold Jackson, who set the new record at 3:56.8.
Results
Semifinals
All semi-finals were held on Tuesday, July 9, 1912.
Semifinal 1
| Place | Athlete | Time | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Mel Sheppard (USA) | 4:27.6 | QF |
| 2 | Louis Madeira (USA) | 4:27.9 | QF |
| 3 | Albert Hare (GBR) | 4:39.4 |
Semifinal 2
| Place | Athlete | Time | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Norman Taber (USA) | 4:25.5 | QF |
| 2 | Philip Baker (GBR) | 4:26.0 | QF |
| 3 |  Georg Amberger (GER) | 4:27.0 | |
| 4-5 | .svg.png){kind=small} Teofil Savniky (HUN) | ||
 Rūdolfs Vītols (RUS) | |||
| — | Dmitri Nazarov (RUS) | Did not finish |
Semifinal 3
| Place | Athlete | Time | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abel Kiviat (USA) | 4:04.4 | QF |
| 2 |  Henri Arnaud (FRA) | 4:05.4 | QF |
| 3 | Norman Patterson (USA) | 4:05.5 | |
| 4 |  John Tait (CAN) | ||
| 5 | Ferenc Forgács (HUN) | ||
| 6-7 | .svg.png){kind=small} François Delloye (BEL) | ||
 Jacob Pedersen (NOR) | |||
| — | Edward Owen (GBR) | Did not finish |
Semifinal 4
| Place | Athlete | Time | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arnold Jackson (GBR) | 4:10.8 | QF |
| 2 | John Paul Jones (USA) | 4:12.4 | QF |
| 3 | .svg.png){kind=small} John Victor (RSA) | 4:12.7 | |
| 4 | Lewis Anderson (USA) | ||
| 5 | Oscar Larsen (NOR) | ||
| 6 | Arnolds Indriksons (RUS) | ||
| 7 | Alfrēds Ruks (RUS) |
Semifinal 5
| Place | Athlete | Time | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  John Zander (SWE) | 4:05.5 | QF |
| 2 | Evert Björn (SWE) | 4:07.2 | QF |
| 3 | Herbert Putnam (USA) | 4:07.6 | |
| 4 | Richard Yorke (GBR) | ||
| 5 | Georg Mickler (GER) | ||
| 6 | Aleksandr Elizarov (RUS) | ||
| 7 | Nikolay Kharkov (RUS) | ||
| — | Charles Ruffell (GBR) | Did not finish |
Semifinal 6
| Place | Athlete | Time | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Erwin von Sigel (GER) | 4:09.3 | QF |
| 2 | Oscar Hedlund (USA) | 4:10.8 | QF |
| 3 | William Moore (GBR) | 4:11.2 | |
| 4 | Nils Frykberg (SWE) | 4:11.2 | |
| 5-6 | Frederick Hulford (GBR) | ||
| Andrejs Krūkliņš (RUS) | |||
| — | .svg.png){kind=small} Guido Calvi (ITA) | Did not finish |
Semifinal 7
| Place | Athlete | Time | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ernst Wide (SWE) | 4:06.0 | QF |
| 2 | Walter McClure (USA) | 4:07.3 | QF |
| 3 | Joe Cottrill (GBR) | ||
| 4 | Matti Harju (FIN) | ||
| 5 | Yevgeni Petrov (RUS) | ||
| — |  Vahram Papazian (TUR) | Did not finish |
Final
The final was held on Wednesday, July 10, 1912.
| Place | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arnold Jackson (GBR) | 3:56.8 OR |
| 2 | Abel Kiviat (USA) | 3:56.9 |
| 3 | Norman Taber (USA) | 3:56.9 |
| 4 | John Paul Jones (USA) | 3:57.2 |
| 5 | Ernst Wide (SWE) | 3:57.6 |
| 6 | Philip Baker (GBR) | 4:01.0 |
| 7 | John Zander (SWE) | 4:02.0 |
| 8 | Walter McClure (USA) | |
| 9-14 | Henri Arnaud (FRA) | |
| Evert Björn (SWE) | ||
| Oscar Hedlund (USA) | ||
| Louis Madeira (USA) | ||
| Mel Sheppard (USA) | ||
| Erwin von Sigel (GER) |
References
- sports-reference.com
- Bergvall, Erik (ed.) (1913). Adams-Ray, Edward (trans.)., ed. The Official Report of the Olympic Games of Stockholm 1912. Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand.
- Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Retrieved 27 August 2006.