Athletics at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metres

The men's 1500 metres event at the 1948 Olympic Games took place August 4 and August 6. Thirty-six athletes from 22 nations competed.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by Swede Henry Eriksson.[2] It was Sweden's first medal in the 1500 metres; Lennart Strand took Sweden's second medal 0.6 seconds later. Willem Slijkhuis earned bronze, with the Netherlands also receiving its first medal in the 1500 metres.

Men's 1500 metres
at the Games of the XIV Olympiad
Olympic Athletics
VenueWembley Stadium
DatesAugust 4 (heats)
August 6 (final)
Competitors36 from 22 nations
Winning time3:49.8
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Henry Eriksson
 Sweden
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Lennart Strand
 Sweden
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Willem Slijkhuis
 Netherlands
← 1936
1952 →

Background

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This was the 11th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the finalists from the pre-war 1936 Games returned. The 1500 metres landscape had shifted strongly towards Sweden during World War II; the nation had never won an Olympic medal in the sport before the war but was aiming for a sweep in 1948 despite Arne Andersson and Gunder Hägg being declared ineligible professionals. The team in London was Lennart Strand (1946 European champion, world list leader in 1947), Henry Eriksson (1946 European runner-up, second on world list in 1947), and Gösta Bergkvist (third on the world list in 1947).[1]

Iceland, Ireland, South Korea, and Trinidad and Tobago each made their first appearance in the event. The United States made its 11th appearance, the only nation to have competed in the men's 1500 metres at each Games to that point.

Competition format

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The competition consisted of two rounds, the format used since 1908. The number of semifinals remained at four, with between 7 and 9 runners in each. The top three runners in each heat advanced to the final, resulting in the typical 12-man final race.[1][3]

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1948 Summer Olympics.

World record   Gunder Hägg (SWE) 3:43.0 Gothenburg, Sweden 7 July 1944
Olympic record   Jack Lovelock (NZL) 3:47.8 Berlin, Germany 6 August 1936

No world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

Schedule

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All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1).

Date Time Round
Wednesday, 4 August 1948 16:30 Semifinals
Friday, 6 August 1948 17:00 Final

Results

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Semifinals

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Semifinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Lennart Strand   Sweden 3:54.2 Q
2 Erik Jørgensen   Denmark 3:54.2 Q
3 Don Gehrmann   United States 3:54.8 Q
4 Frits de Ruijter   Netherlands 3:55.2
5 Olavi Luoto   Finland 3:58.0
6 Henri Klein   France 3:59.8
7 Cahit Önel   Turkey 4:00.0
8 John Joe Barry   Ireland 4:00.5
9 Cliff Salmond   Canada 4:16.2
10 Antero Mongrut   Peru Unknown
Hans Streuli   Switzerland DNS

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Willem Slijkhuis   Netherlands 3:52.4 Q
2 Václav Čevona   Czechoslovakia 3:53.0 Q
3 Denis Johansson   Finland 3:54.0 Q
4 Jack Hutchins   Canada 3:54.4
5 Doug Wilson   Great Britain 3:54.8
6 Clem Eischen   United States 4:00.2
7 Vasilios Mavroidis   Greece Unknown
8 Juan Adarraga   Spain 4:03.7
9 Wilfred Tull   Trinidad and Tobago Unknown
Bruno Schneider   Austria DNS
Adán Torres   Argentina DNS

Semifinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Henry Eriksson   Sweden 3:53.8 Q
2 Bill Nankeville   Great Britain 3:55.8 Q
3 Josy Barthel   Luxembourg 3:56.4 Q
4 Jean Vernier   France 3:57.6
5 Melchor Palmeiro   Argentina 4:01.6
6 Óskar Jónsson   Iceland 4:03.2
7 Riza Maksut İşman   Turkey Unknown
Bill Parnell   Canada DNF
Daniel Poyan   Spain DNS
Gaston Reiff   Belgium DNS

Semifinal 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Gösta Bergkvist   Sweden 3:51.8 Q
2 Marcel Hansenne   France 3:52.8 Q
3 Sándor Garay   Hungary 3:53.0 Q
4 Roland Sink   United States 3:53.2
5 Kaare Vefling   Norway 3:54.6
6 Richard Morris   Great Britain 3:55.8
7 Ingvard Nielsen   Denmark 4:01.7
8 Karl-Heinz Hubler   Switzerland 4:03.0
9 Lee Yun-seok   South Korea Unknown
Raymond Rosier   Belgium DNS

Final

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The results of the final past the first six places are disputed. The Official Report lists the times and places of the top six runners, but all others are marked simply as "also competed."[3] The table below presents the results as shown by Olympedia, "based on information from Richard Hymans, British athletics statistical expert" and "supplemented . . . by various descriptions from multiple national sources, including a Swedish radio report of the finish of the race, which definitively gives Garay as placing seventh."[1] Below the main table, alternative placements are shown.

Rank Athlete Nation Time
  Henry Eriksson   Sweden 3:49.8
  Lennart Strand   Sweden 3:50.4
  Willem Slijkhuis   Netherlands 3:50.4
4 Václav Čevona   Czechoslovakia 3:51.2
5 Gösta Bergkvist   Sweden 3:52.2
6 Bill Nankeville   Great Britain 3:52.6
7 Sándor Garay   Hungary 3:54.4
8 Don Gehrmann   United States 3:54.5
9 Erik Jørgensen   Denmark 3:56.1
10 Josy Barthel   Luxembourg 3:56.9
11 Marcel Hansenne   France 4:02.0
12 Denis Johansson   Finland Unknown
Alternative placements
Rank Olympedia Kluge[4] Megede[5] T&FN[6]
7 Sándor Garay Sándor Garay Don Gehrmann Erik Jørgensen
8 Don Gehrmann Erik Jørgensen Erik Jørgensen Don Gehrmann
9 Erik Jørgensen Josy Barthel Denis Johansson Denis Johansson
10 Josy Barthel Don Gehrmann Josy Barthel Josy Barthel
11 Marcel Hansenne Marcel Hansenne Marcel Hansenne Marcel Hansenne
12 Denis Johansson Denis Johansson Sándor Garay Sándor Garay

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "1500 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  2. ^ "Athletics at the 1948 London Games: Men's 1500 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  3. ^ a b Official Report, p. 249.
  4. ^ Volker Kluge, Olympische Sommerspiele: Die Chronik II. As described in Olympedia.
  5. ^ Ekkehard zur Megede, Olympic Century. As described in Olympedia.
  6. ^ Track & Field News, 1948. As described in Olympedia.

Notes

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